R5'  /  • 


y 


BHtH 
^••Q 

•Hn 


Bran 


$ 

fi 


vIMTING 
?I1  RCJ  '. 


AW 


LIBRARY 

T'.'J    .   -   -!A 

S^-.N  i      GO 


I 

I 


Printing  Experiences 


PRINTER,    AUTHOR,    DIPLOMAT 
HONORED    OF   ALL   MEN 


DRAWN    BV    COCHIN,    1777 


ENGRAVED    BY    RITCHIE 


MY  PRINTING 
EXPERIENCES 

By   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN 


a  Short 
BIOGRAPHY  of  FRANKLIN 

by  GEO.  E.  WRAY 


Published  by 

PORTE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

FRANKLIN  PRINTERS  SERVICE 

SALT  LAKE  CITY,  UTAH 


COPYRIGHT 
PORTE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
SALT  LAKE  CITY 

UTAH 
•K 

First  Edition 
OCTOBER,  1921 

Second  Edition 
APRIL,  1921 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Foreword      ---------  7 

From  Boston  to  Philadelphia         -       -       -       -       -       1 1 

Franklin  Meets  Keimer     -  21 

A  Quakeress  Befriends  Him  ------       29 

Trust  Not  in  Promises  -       -       -       -       -       -35 

Gets  Work  in  London     -------       47 

Philosophizes  on  Beer  Drinking        -       -       -       -       -   53 

Franklin  Returns  to  Philadelphia  -       61 

Keimer  Quarrels  with  Franklin  -  70 

Franklin  Starts  in  Business 77 

Franklin  and  the  Junto      -------83 

A  Printer  Too  Poor  to  Marry       -----       92 

The  Way  to  Wealth     -  103 

Early  Life  of  Franklin  -       -       -       -       -       -       -121 

Inventory  of  Franklin's  Printing  Plant    -       -       -         128 
Other  Printing  Experiences    -       -       -       -       -       -133 

Franklin's  Partnerships     ------         136 

Franklin  as  Typefounder       -       -       -       -       -       -     142 

Franklin's  Pennsylvania  Activities  -  157 

Scientific^and  Mechanical  Experiments        -       -       -     163 
Later  Life  of  Franklin       ------         168 

Franklin  Becomes  a  Diplomat      -       -       -       -  173 

His  Mission  to  France       ------         175 

Franklin's  Own  Epitaph        -       -       -       -       -       -180 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Printer,  Author,  Diplomat     -  Frontispiece 

Franklin  at  Philadelphia,  1723         -       -       -       -       -    1 8 

Franklin  and  the  Watts'  Press      -----       45 

Ben's  "Sweet  Retreat"  in  England    -  109 

Franklin  Surprises  the  World       -       -       -       -  125 

Plassman's  Franklin  -------         141 

Bon  Homme  Richard      -       -       -       -       -       -       -     !73 

Franklin's  Epitaph     -       -       -       -       -       -       -         181 


IT  MAY  seem  somewhat  presumptuous  to 
offer  to  the  world  a  part  of  the  Autobiog- 
raphy of  Benjamin  Franklin.    This  would 
not  now  be  done  but  for  the  fact  that  print- 
ers generally  are  less  interested  in  Franklin  as 
a  statesman,  or  a  diplomat,  than  in  Franklin  as 
a  printer.    True  it  is  that  printers  are  always 
ready  to  honor  this  great  man — he  who  towers 
above  all  other  Americans  of  all  time — whether 
he  is  considered  as  a  scientist,  as  a  philosopher, 
or  as  a  patriot — but  nevertheless,  it  is  as  a  printer 
that  printers  are  drawn  to  study  Franklin. 

This,  then,  is  the  reason  for  the  reproduction 
of  that  portion  of  Franklin's  Autobiography 
dealing  with  his  connection  with  the  printing 
business  in  Colonial  times.  Much  of  the  matter 
here  presented  is  as  familiar  to  many  as  house- 
hold words.  There  is  little  that  is  new  in  this 
book.  But  it  is  filled  with  the  sound  practical 
sense  abounding  in  nearly  all  of  Franklin's 
writings.  His  homely  philosophy  has  led  thous- 
ands of  people  to  do  a  little  thinking  for  them- 
selves. The  recital  of  his  experiences  has  urged 
many  hundreds  of  young  men  onward  and  up- 
ward in  the  path  of  life.  Franklin 's  struggles 


8  FOREWORD 

and  Franklin's  "errata"  have  alike  served  to 
guide  others  in  a  better  way,  pointing  out  ad- 
vantages and  opportunities  as  well  as  dangers 
and  bitter  experiences  in  journeying  along. 

All  printers  should  know  Franklin  from  en- 
trance to  exit,  and  they  should  be  especially 
well  acquainted  with  his  ups  and  downs,  his 
successes  and  failures,  as  a  printer. 

An  appendix  to  this  volume  contains  Franklin 's 
"Way  to  Wealth"  first  published  in  1758,  or 
164  years  ago.  Its  quaint  and  homely  talk  carries 
conviction  just  as  far  as  when  Richard  Saunders 
delivered  his  alleged  talk  to  those  assembled 
in  the  Philadelphia  market  place.  And  that  is 
to  say:  "They  practised  the  contrary  just  as  if 
it  had  been  a  common  sermon." 

A  brief  sketch  by  Mr.Geo.E.Wray,  of  Frank- 
lin 's  early  life,  of  his  closing  years,  and  of  some 
of  the  material  things  he  accomplished  for  the 
benefit  of  humanity,  is  given  in  the  Appendix. 

That  this  little  volume  will  prove  brimful  of 
encouragement  to  the  young  printer,  helpful  to 
the  printer  of  mature  years,  cheering  to  the 
printer  in  the  prime  of  life,  strengthening  to 
those  printers  who  have  passed  the  meridian, 
and  entertaining  and  comforting  to  all  printers 
of  both  sexes — is  the  hope  of  the  compilers. 

Tt^T.Torte 

SALT  LAKE  CITY,  OCTOBER,  1921 


My  Printing  Experiences 

By  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 


Chapter  One 
FROM  BOSTON  TO  PHILADELPHIA 

MY  inclinations  for   the  sea  were  by 
this  time  (1723)  worn  out,  or  I  might 
have  gratify'd  them.    But,  having  a 
trade,  and  supposing  myself  a  pretty 
good  workman,  offered  my  services  to  the  New 
York  printer,  old  Mr.  William  Bradford,  who 
had  been  the  first  printer  in  Pennsylvania,  but 
removed  from  thence  upon  the  quarrel  of  George 
Keith.   He  could  give  me  no  employment,  hav- 
ing little  to  do  and  help  enough  already;  but 
says  he,  "My  son  at  Philadelphia  has  recently 
lost  his  principal  hand,  Aquila  Rose,  by  death; 
if  you  go  thither,  I  believe  he  may  employ  you. " 
Philadelphia  was  a  hundred  miles  further;  I 
set  out,  however,  in  a  boat  for  Amboy,  leaving 
my  chest  and  things  to  follow  me  round  by  sea. 

II 


12  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

In  crossing  the  bay,  we  met  with  a  squall 
that  tore  our  rotten  sails  to  pieces,  prevented 
our  getting  into  the  Kill,  and  drove  us  upon 
Long  Island.  In  our  way,  a  drunken  Dutchman, 
who  was  a  passenger,  too,  fell  overboard;  when 
he  was  sinking  I  reached  through  the  water  to 
his  shock  pate  and  drew  him  up,  so  that  we  got 
him  in  again. 

His  ducking  sobered  him  a  little  and  he  went 
to  sleep,  taking  first  out  of  his  pocket  a  book, 
which  he  desired  I  should  dry  for  him.  It  proved 
to  be  my  old  favorite  author,  Bunyan's  "Pil- 
grim's Progress,"  in  Dutch,  finely  printed  on 
good  paper,  with  copper  cuts,  a  dress  better 
than  I  had  ever  seen  it  wear  in  its  own  language. 
I  have  since  found  that  it  has  been  translated 
into  most  of  the  languages  of  Europe,  and  expect 
it  has  been  more  generally  read  than  any  other 
book,  except  the  Bible. 

Honest  John  was  the  first  that  I  know  of  who 
mixed  narration  and  dialogue;  a  method  of 
writing  very  engaging  to  the  reader,  who  in  the 
most  interesting  parts  finds  himself,  as  it  were, 
brought  into  company  and  present  at  the  dis- 
course. De  Foe  in  his  "Crusoe,"  his  "Moll 
Flanders,"  "Religious  Courtship,"  "Family 
Instructor,"  and  other  pieces  has  imitated  it 
with  success;  and  Richardson  has  done  the  same 
in  his  "Pamela,"  etc. 


FROM    BOSTON   TO    PHILADELPHIA  13 

When  we  drew  near  the  island,  we  found  it 
was  a  place  where  there  could  be  no  landing, 
there  being  a  great  surf  on  the  stony  beach.  So 
we  dropt  anchor  and  swung  round  towards  the 
shore.  Some  people  came  down  to  the  water 
edge  and  hallow 'd  at  us,  as  we  did  to  them;  but 
the  wind  was  so  high  and  the  surf  so  loud  that 
we  could  not  hear  so  as  to  understand  each 
other.  There  were  canoes  on  the  shore,  and  we 
made  signs  and  hallow 'd  that  they  should  fetch 
us;  but  they  either  did  not  understand  us  or 
thought  it  was  impracticable,  so  they  went  away 
and,  night  coming  on,  we  had  no  remedy  but 
to  wait  till  the  wind  should  abate;  and  in  the 
meantime  the  boatman  and  I  concluded  to 
sleep,  if  we  could;  and  so  we  crowded  into  the 
scuttle  with  the  Dutchman,  who  was  still  wet, 
and  the  spray,  beating  over  the  head  of  our 
boat,  leak'd  through  to  us,  so  that  we  were  soon 
almost  as  wet  as  he.  In  this  manner  we  lay  all 
night,  with  very  little  rest;  but  the  wind  abating 
the  next  day,  we  made  shift  to  reach  Amboy 
before  night,  having  been  thirty  hours  on  the 
water,  without  victuals,  or  any  drink  but  a 
bottle  of  filthy  rum,  the  water  we  sailed  on 
being  salt. 

In  the  evening  I  found  myself  very  feverish, 
and  went  in  to  bed;  but,  having  read  somewhere 
that  cold  water  drank  plentifully  was  good  for 


14  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

a  fever,  I  follow 'd  the  prescription,  sweat  plen- 
tifully most  of  the  night,  my  fever  left  me,  and 
in  the  morning,  crossing  to  the  ferry,  I  pro- 
ceeded on  my  journey  on  foot,  having  fifty 
miles  to  Burlington,  where  I  was  told  I  should 
find  boats  that  would  carry  me  the  rest  of  the 
way  to  Philadelphia. 

It  rained  very  hard  all  the  day:  I  was  thor- 
oughly soak'd  and  by  noon  a  good  deal  tired;  so 
I  stopt  at  a  poor  inn,  where  I  staid  all  night,  be- 
ginning now  to  wish  that  I  had  never  left  home. 
I  cut  so  miserable  a  figure,  too,  that  I  found  by 
the  questions  ask'd  me,  I  was  suspected  to  be 
some  runaway  servant  and  in  danger  of  being 
taken  up  on  that  suspicion.  However,  I  proceed- 
ed the  next  day,  and  got  in  the  evening  to  an 
inn,  within  eight  or  ten  miles  of  Burlington, 
kept  by  one  Doctor  Brown.  He  entered  into 
conversation  with  me  while  I  took  some  re- 
freshment and,  finding  I  had  read  a  little,  be- 
came very  sociable  and  friendly. 

Our  acquaintance  continued  as  long  as  he 
lived.  He  had  been,  I  imagine,  an  itinerant 
doctor,  for  there  was  no  town  in  England,  or 
country  in  Europe  of  which  he  could  not  give 
a  very  particular  account.  He  had  some  letters, 
and  was  ingenious,  but  much  of  an  unbeliever, 
and  wickedly  undertook  some  years  after,  to 
travestie  the  Bible  in  doggerel  verse,  as  Cotton 


FROM  BOSTON  TO  PHILADELPHIA      15 

had  done  Virgil.  By  this  means  he  set  many  of 
the  facts  in  a  very  ridiculous  light,  and  might 
have  hurt  weak  minds  if  his  work  had  been 
published;  but  it  never  was. 

At  his  house  I  lay  that  night,  and  the  next 
morning  reach  'd  Burlington,  but  had  the  morti- 
fication to  find  that  the  regular  boats  were  gone 
a  little  before  my  coming,  and  no  other  expected 
to  go  before  Tuesday,  this  being  Saturday; 
wherefore  I  returned  to  an  old  woman  in  the 
town,  of  whom  I  had  bought  gingerbread  to  eat 
on  the  water,  and  ask'd  her  advice.  She  invited 
me  to  lodge  at  her  house  till  a  passage  by  water 
should  offer;  and  being  tired  with  my  foot 
travelling,  I  accepted  the  invitation.  She,  un. 
derstanding  I  was  a  printer,  would  have  had  me 
stay  at  that  town  and  follow  my  business,  being 
ignorant  of  the  stock  necessary  to  begin  with. 
She  was  very  hospitable,  gave  me  a  dinner 
of  oxcheek  with  great  good  will,  accepting  only 
a  pot  of  ale  in  return;  and  I  thought  myself 
fixed  till  Tuesday  should  come. 

However,  walking  in  the  evening  by  the  side 
of  the  river,  a  boat  came  by,  which  I  found  was 
going  toward  Philadelphia,  with  several  people 
in  her.  They  took  me  in,  and,  as  there  was  no 
wind,  we  row'd  all  the  way,  and  about  mid- 
night, not  having  seen  the  city,  some  of  the  com- 
pany were  confident  we  must  have  passed  it, 


l6  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

and  would  row  no  farther;  the  others  knew  not 
where  we  were;  so  we  put  towards  the  shore, 
got  into  a  creek,  landed  near  an  old  fence,  with 
the  rails  of  which  we  made  a  fire,  the  night 
being  cold  in  October,  and  there  we  remained 
till  daylight.  Then  one  of  the  company  knew  the 
place  to  be  Cooper's  creek,  a  little  above  Phila- 
delphia, which  we  saw  as  soon  as  we  got  out  of 
the  creek,  and  arriv'd  there  about  eight  or  nine 
o'clock  on  the  Sunday  morning,  and  landed  at 
the  Market  street  wharf. 

I  have  been  the  more  particular  in  this  de- 
scription of  my  journey  and  shall  be  so  of  my 
first  entry  into  that  city,  that  you  may  in  your 
mind  compare  such  unlikely  beginnings  with 
the  figure  I  have  since  made  there.  I  was  in  my 
working  dress,  my  best  clothes  being  to  come  by 
sea.  I  was  dirty  from  my  journey;  my  pockets 
were  stuff'd  out  with  shirts  and  stockings,  and 
I  knew  no  soul  nor  where  to  look  for  lodging. 
I  was  fatigued  with  traveling,  rowing  and  want 
of  rest,  I  was  very  hungry;  and  my  whole  stock 
of  cash  consisted  of  a  Dutch  dollar  and  about  a 
shilling  in  copper.  The  latter  I  gave  the  people 
of  the  boat  for  my  passage,  who  at  first  refus  'd 
it  on  account  of  my  rowing;  but  I  insisted  on 
their  taking  it;  a  man  being  sometimes  more 
generous  when  he  has  but  a  little  money  than 


FROM    BOSTON   TO    PHILADELPHIA  17 

when  he  has  plenty,  perhaps  thro'  fear  of 
being  thought  to  have  but  little. 

Then  I  walked  up  the  street,  gazing  about 
till  near  the  market-house  I  met  a  boy  with 
bread.  I  had  made  many  a  meal  on  bread,  and, 
inquiring  where  he  got  it,  I  went  immediately 
to  the  baker's  he  directed  me  to  in  Second  street 
and  ask'd  for  a  biscuit,  intending  such  as  we  had 
in  Boston;  but  they,  it  seems,  were  not  made  in 
Philadelphia.  Then  I  asked  for  a  three-penny 
loaf,  and  was  told  they  had  none  such.  So  not 
considering  or  knowing  the  difference  of  money 
and  the  greater  cheapness  nor  the  names  of  his 
bread,  I  had  him  give  me  three-penny  worth 
of  any  sort.  He  gave  me,  accordingly,  three 
great  puffy  rolls.  I  was  surpris  'd  at  the  quantity, 
but  took  it,  and  having  no  room  in  my  pockets, 
walk'd  off  with  a  roll  under  each  arm,  and 
eating  the  other. 

Thus  I  went  up  Market  street,  as  far  as 
Fourth  street,  passing  by  the  door  of  Mr.  Read, 
my  future  wife's  father;  when  she,  standing  at 
the  door,  saw  me,  and  thought  I  made — as 
I  most  certainly  did — a  most  awkward  and 
ridiculous  appearance. 

Then  I  turned  and  went  down  Chestnut 
street  and  part  of  Walnut  street,  eating  my  roll 
all  the  way,  and,  coming  round,  found  myself 
again  in  Market  street  wharf,  near  the  boat  I 


FROM    BOSTON   TO    PHILADELPHIA  1 9 

came  in,  to  which  I  went  for  a  draught  of  the 
river  water;  and  being  filled  with  one  of  my  rolls, 
gave  the  other  two  to  a  woman  and  her  child 
that  came  down  the  river  in  the  boat  with  us. 

Thus,  refreshed,  I  walked  again  up  the  street, 
which  by  this  time  had  many  clean-dressed 
people  in  it,  who  were  all  walking  the  same  way. 
I  joined  them  and  thereby  was  led  into  the 
great  meeting-house  of  the  Quakers  near  the 
market.  I  sat  down  among  them,  and  after 
looking  round  awhile  and  hearing  nothing  said, 
being  very  drowsy  thro '  labor  and  want  of  rest 
the  preceding  night,  I  fell  asleep,  and  con- 
tinu'd  so  till  the  meeting  broke  up,  when  one 
was  kind  enough  to  rouse  me.  This  was, 
therefore,  the  first  house  I  was  in,  or  slept  in 
in  Philadelphia. 

While  walking  down  toward  the  river,  and, 
looking  in  the  faces  of  people,  I  met  a  young 
Quaker  man,  whose  countenance  I  lik'd,  and, 
accosting  him,  requested  he  would  tell  me  where 
a  stranger  could  get  lodging.  We  were  then  near 
the  sign  of  the  Three  Mariners. 

"Here,"  says  he,  "is  one  place  that  entertains 
strangers,  but  it  is  not  a  reputable  house;  if  thee 
will  walk  with  me  I'll  show  thee  a  better." 


Chapter  Two 
FRANKLIN  MEETS  KEIMER. 

E  BROUGHT  me  to  the  Crooked  Bil- 
let in  Water  street.  Here  I  got  a  din- 
ner; and  while  I  was  eating  it,  several 
sly  questions  were  asked  of  me,  as  it 
seemed  to  be  suspected  from  my  youth  and  ap- 
pearance that  I  might  be  some  runaway. 

After  dinner  my  sleepiness  return 'd,  and  be- 
ing shown  to  a  bed  I  lay  down  without  undress- 
ing, and  slept  till  six  in  the  evening,  was  call'd 
to  supper,  went  to  bed  again  very  early  and 
slept  soundly  till  next  morning.  Then  I  made 
myself  as  tidy  as  I  could,  and  went  to  Andrew 
Bradford  the  printer's. 

I  found  in  the  shop  the  old  man,  his  father, 
whom  I  had  seen  at  New  York,  and  who, 
travelling  on  horseback,  had  got  to  Philadelphia 
before  me.  He  introduc'd  me  to  his  son,  who 
receiv'd  me  civilly,  gave  me  a  breakfast,  but 
told  me  he  did  not  at  present  want  a  hand,  being 
lately  suppli'd  with  one;  but  there  was  another 
printer  in  town  lately  set  up,  one  Keimer,  who, 
perhaps,  might  employ  me;  if  not,  I  should  be 
welcome  to  lodge  at  his  house,  and  he  would 
give  me  a  little  work  to  do  now  and  then  till 
fuller  business  should  offer. 


22  MY   PRINTING   EXPERIENCES 

•V 

The  old  gentleman  said  he  would  go  with  me 
to  the  new  printer;  and  when  he  found  him: 

"Neighbor,"  says  Bradford,  "I  have  brought 
to  see  you  a  young  man  of  your  business;  per- 
haps you  may  want  such  a  one." 

He  ask'd  me  a  few  questions,  put  a  composing 
stick  into  my  hand  to  see  how  I  work'd,  and 
then  said  he  would  employ  me  soon,  though  he 
had  just  then  nothing  for  me  to  do;  and,  taking 
old  Bradford,  whom  he  had  never  seen  before,  to 
be  one  of  the  town 's  people  that  had  a  good  will 
for  him,  entered  into  a  conversation  on  his 
present  undertaking  and  prospects;  while  Brad- 
ford, not  discovering  that  he  was  another  print- 
er's father,  on  Keimer's  saying  he  expected  to 
get  the  greatest  part  of  the  business  into  his 
own  hands,  drew  him  out  by  artful  questions, 
and  starting  little  doubts,  to  explain  all  his 
views,  what  interest  he  reli'd  on,  and  in  what 
manner  he  expected  to  proceed. 

I,  who  stood  by  and  heard  all,  saw  immed- 
iately that  one  of  them  was  a  crafty  old  sophis- 
ter,  and  the  other  was  a  mere  novice.  Bradford 
left  me  with  Keimer,  who  was  greatly  surpris  'd 
when  I  told  him  who  the  old  man  was. 

Keimer's  printing  house,  I  found  consisted  of 
an  old  shatter 'd  press,  and  one  small,  worn-out 
font  of  English,  which  he  was  then  using  him- 
self, composing  an  Elegy  on  Aquila  Rose,  before 


FRANKLIN   MEETS    KEIMER  2J 

mentioned,  an  ingenious  young  man  of  excellent 
character,  much  respected  in  the  town,  clerk  of 
the  Assembly,  and  a  pretty  poet. 

Keimer  made  verses  too,  but  very  indifferent- 
ly. He  could  not  be  said  to  write  them,  for  his 
manner  was  to  compose  them  in  the  types  di- 
rectly out  of  his  head.  So  there  being  no  copy, 
but  one  pair  of  cases,  and  the  Elegy  likely  to 
require  all  the  letter,  no  one  could  help  him. 

I  endeavor 'd  to  put  his  press  (which  he  had 
not  yet  used,  and  of  which  he  understood  noth- 
ing) into  order  fit  to  be  work'd  with;  and,  prom- 
ising to  come  and  print  off  his  Elegy  as  soon  as 
he  should  have  got  it  ready,  I  return  'd  to  Brad- 
ford's  who  gave  me  a  little  job  to  do  for  the 
present,  and  there  I  lodged  and  dieted. 

A  few  days  later,  Keimer  sent  for  me  to  print 
off  the  Elegy.  And  now  he  had  another  pair  of 
cases,  and  a  pamphlet  to  reprint,  on  which  he 
set  me  to  work. 

These  two  printers  I  found  poorly  qualified 
for  their  business.  Bradford  had  not  been  bred 
for  it,  and  was  very  illiterate;  and  Keimer,  tho' 
seeming  to  be  something  of  a  scholar,  was  a 
mere  compositor,  knowing  nothing  of  presswork. 
He  had  been  one  of  the  French  prophets,  and 
could  act  their  enthusiastic  agitations.  At  this 
time  he  did  not  profess  any  particular  religion, 
but  something  of  all  on  occasion;  was  very 


24  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

ignorant  of  the  world  and  had,  as  I  afterward 
found,  a  good  deal  of  the  knave  in  his  composi- 
tion. He  did  not  like  my  lodging  at  Bradford 's 
while  I  worked  with  him.  He  had  a  house, 
indeed,  but  without  furniture,  so  he  could  not 
lodge  me;  but  he  got  me  a-lodging  at  Mr.  Read's, 
before  mentioned,  who  was  the  owner  of  his 
house;  and  my  chest  and  clothes  being  come 
by  this  time,  I  made  rather  a  more  respectable 
appearance  in  the  eyes  of  Miss  Read  than  I  had 
done  when  she  first  happen 'd  to  see  me  eating 
my  roll  in  the  street. 

I  began  now  to  have  some  acquaintance 
among  the  young  people  of  the  town  that  were 
lovers  of  reading,  with  whom  I  spent  my  even- 
ings very  pleasantly;  and  gaining  money  by  my 
industry  and  frugality,  I  lived  very  agreeably 
forgetting  Boston  as  much  as  I  could,  and  not 
desiring  that  any  there  should  know  where  I 
resided,  except  my  friend  Collins,  who  was  in 
my  secret,  and  kept  it  when  I  wrote  to  him. 

At  length,  an  incident  happened  that  sent  me 
back  again  much  sooner  than  I  had  intended.  I 
had  a  brother-in-law,  Robert  Holmes,  master 
of  a  sloop  that  traded  between  Boston  and 
Delaware.  He  being  at  New  Castle,  forty  miles 
below  Philadelphia,  heard  there  of  me  and  wrote 
me  a  letter  mentioning  the  concern  of  my  friends 
in  Boston  at  my  abrupt  departure,  assuring  me 


FRANKLIN    MEETS    KEIMER  25 

of  their  good  will  to  me,  and  that  everything 
would  be  accommodated  to  my  mind  if  I  would 
return,  to  which  he  exhorted  me  very  earnestly. 
I  wrote  an  answer  to  his  letter,  thank 'd  him  for 
the  advice  but  stated  my  reasons  for  quitting 
Boston  fully  and  in  such  light  as  to  convince 
him  I  was  not  so  wrong  as  he  had  apprehended. 

Sir  William  Keith,  governor  of  the  province, 
was  then  at  New  Castle,  and  Captain  Holmes, 
happening  to  be  in  company  with  him  when  my 
letter  came  to  hand,  spoke  to  him  of  me,  and 
show'd  him  the  letter.  The  governor  read  it,  and 
seemed  surpris'd  when  he  was  told  my  age. 

He  said  I  appear'd  a  young  man  of  promising 
parts,  and  therefore  should  be  encouraged;  the 
printers  at  Philadelphia  were  wretched  ones; 
and  if  I  set  up  there  he  had  no  doubt  I  should 
succeed;  for  his  part,  he  would  procure  me  the 
public  business,  and  do  me  every  other  service 
in  his  power. 

This  my  brother-in-law  afterwards  told  me 
in  Boston,  but  I  knew  as  yet  nothing  of  it; 
when  one  day,  Keimer  and  I  being  at  work 
together  near  the  window,  we  saw  the  governor 
and  another  gentleman  (which  proved  to  be 
Colonel  French  of  New  Castle,)  finely  dress 'd, 
coming  directly  across  the  street  to  our  house, 
and  heard  them  at  the  door. 


26  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

Keimer  ran  down  immediately  thinking  it  a 
visit  to  him;  but  the  governor  inquired  for  me, 
came  up,  and  with  a  condescension  and  polite- 
ness I  had  been  quite  unused  to,  made  me  many 
compliments,  desired  to  be  acquainted  with 
me,  blam  'd  me  kindly  for  not  having  made  my- 
self known  to  him  when  I  first  came  to  the  place, 
and  would  have  me  away  with  him  to  the  tavern, 
where  he  was  going  with  Colonel  French  to 
taste,  as  he  said,  some  excellent  Madeira. 

I  was  not  a  little  surpris'd,  and  Keimer  star'd 
like  a  pig  poisoned. 

I  went,  however,  with  the  governor  and  Colo- 
nel French  to  a  tavern,  at  the  corner  of  Third 
street,  and  over  the  Madeira  he  propos'd  my 
setting  up  in  business,  laid  before  me  the 
probabilities  of  success,  and  both  he  and  Colonel 
French  assur'd  me  I  should  have  their  interest 
and  influence  in  procuring  the  public  business 
of  both  governments. 

On  my  doubting  whether  my  father  would 
assist  me  in  it,  Sir  William  said  he  would  give 
me  a  letter  to  him.  So  it  was  concluded  that  I 
should  return  to  Boston  in  the  first  vessel,  with 
the  governor's  letter  recommending  me  to  my 
father.  In  the  meantime  the  intention  was  to  be 
kept  a  secret,  and  I  went  on  working  with 
Keimer  as  usual,  the  governor  sending  for  me 
now  and  then  to  dine  with  him,  (a  very  great 


FRANKLIN    MEETS    KEIMER  2J 

honor  I  thought  it,)  and  conversing  with  me  in 
the  most  affable,  familiar  and  friendly  manner 
imaginable. 

About  the  end  of  April,  1724,  a  little  vessel 
offer'd  for  Boston.  I  took  leave  of  Keimer  as 
going  to  see  my  friends.  The  governor  gave  me 
an  ample  letter,  saying  many  flattering  things 
of  me  to  my  father,  and  strongly  recommending 
the  project  of  my  setting  up  at  Philadelphia  as 
a  thing  that  must  make  my  fortune.  We  struck 
on  a  shoal  in  going  down  the  bay,  and  sprung 
a  leak;  we  had  a  blustering  time  at  sea,  and 
were  oblig'd  to  pump  almost  continually,  at 
which  I  took  my  turn.  We  arriv'd  safe,  however, 
at  Boston  in  about  a  fortnight. 

I  had  been  absent  seven  months,  and  my 
friends  had  heard  nothing  of  me;  for  my  brother- 
in-law  Holmes  was  not  yet  returned  and  had  not 
written  about  me.  My  unexpected  appearance 
surpris'd  the  family;  all  were,  however,  very 
glad  to  see  me  and  made  me  welcome,  except 
my  brother.  I  went  to  see  him  at  his  printing- 
house.  I  was  better  dress'd  than  ever  while  in 
his  service,  having  a  genteel  new  suit  from  head 
to  foot,  a  watch,  and  my  pockets  lin'd  with  near 
five  pounds  sterling  in  silver.  He  received  me 
not  very  frankly,  look'd  me  all  over,  and  turn'd 
to  his  work  again. 


28  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

The  journeymen  were  inquisitive  where  I 
had  been,  what  sort  of  country  it  was,  and  how 
I  lik'd  it.  I  prais'd  it  much,  and  the  happy  life 
I  had  led  in  it,  expressing  strongly  my  intention 
of  returning  to  it;  and  one  of  them  asking  what 
kind  of  money  we  had  there,  I  produced  a  hand- 
ful of  silver,  and  spread  it  before  them,  which 
was  a  kind  of  raree-show  they  had  not  been 
used  to,  paper  being  the  money  of  Boston.  Then 
I  took  an  opportunity  of  letting  them  see  my 
watch;  and  lastly  (my  brother  still  glum  and 
sullen)  I  gave  them  a  piece  of  eight  to  drink,  and 
took  my  leave. 

This  visit  of  mine  offended  him  extremely; 
for  when  my  mother  some  time  after  spoke  to 
him  of  a  reconciliation,  and  of  her  wishes  to  see 
us  on  good  terms  together,  and  that  we  might 
live  for  the  future  as  brothers,  he  said  I  had  in- 
sulted him  in  such  a  manner  before  his  people 
that  he  could  never  forget  or  forgive  it.  In  this, 
however,  he  was  mistaken. 


Chapter  Three 

A  QUAKERESS  BEFRIENDS  HIM 

Y  FATHER  received  the  governor's 
letter  with  some  apparent  surprise, 
but  said  little  of  it  to  me  for  some 
days,  when,  Captain  Holmes  return- 
ing, he  showed  it  to  him,  asked  him  if  he  knew 
Keith,  and  what  kind  of  a  man  he  was;  adding 
his  opinion  that  he  must  be  a  man  of  small 
discretion  to  think  of  setting  a  boy  up  in  busi- 
ness who  wanted  yet  three  years  of  being  at 
man's  estate.  Holmes  said  what  he  could  in 
favor  of  the  project,  but  my  father  was  clear,  in 
the  impropriety  of  it,  and  at  last  gave  a  flat 
denial  to  it.  Then  he  wrote  a  civil  letter  to  Sir 
William,  thanking  him  for  the  patronage  he  had 
so  kindly  offered  me,  but  declining  to  assist  me 
as  yet  in  setting  up,  I  being,  in  his  opinion,  too 
young  to  be  entrusted  with  the  management  of 
a  business  so  important,  and  for  which  the 
preparation  must  be  so  expensive. 

My  friend  and  companion  Collins,  who  was 
a  clerk  in  the  postoffice,  pleased  with  the  ac- 
count I  gave  him  of  my  new  country,  deter- 
mined to  go  thither  also;  and,  while  I  waited  for 
my  father's  determination,  he  set  out  before  me 
by  land,  to  Rhode  Island,  leaving  his  books, 

29 


3O  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

which  were  a  pretty  collection  of  mathematics 
and  natural  philosophy,  to  come  with  mine  tome 
to  New  York,  where  he  proposed  to  wait  for  me. 

My  father,  tho'  he  did  not  approve  Sir  Wil- 
liam's proposition,  was  yet  pleased  that  I  had 
been  able  to  obtain  so  advantageous  a  character 
from  a  person  of  such  note  where  I  had  resided, 
and  that  I  had  been  so  industrious  and  careful 
as  to  equip  myself  so  handsomely  in  so  short  a 
time;  therefore,  seeing  no  prospect  of  an  accom- 
modation between  my  brother  and  me,  he  gave 
his  consent  to  my  returning  to  Philadelphia  and 
advised  me  to  behave  respectfully  to  the  people 
there,  endeavor  to  obtain  the  general  esteem, 
and  avoid  lampooning  and  libeling,  to  which  he 
thought  I  had  too  much  inclination;  telling  me 
that  by  steady  industry  and  a  prudent  par- 
simony I  might  save  enough  by  the  time  I  was 
one-and-twenty  to  set  me  up;  and  that  if  I  came 
near  the  matter  he  would  help  me  out  with  the 
rest.  This  was  all  I  could  obtain  except  some 
small  gifts  as  tokens  of  his  and  my  mother's 
love,  when  I  embarked  again  for  New  York,  now 
with  their  approbation  and  their  blessing. 

The  sloop  putting  in  at  Newport,  Rhode 
Island,  I  visited  my  brother  John,  who  had  been 
married  and  settled  there  for  some  years.  He 
received  me  very  affectionately,  for  he  always 
lov'd  me.  A  friend  of  his,  one  Vernon,  having 


A    QUAKERESS    BEFRIENDS    HIM  3! 

some  money  due  him  in  Pennsylvania,  about 
thirty-five  pounds  currency,  desired  I  would  re- 
ceive it  for  him,  and  keep  it  till  I  had  his  direc- 
tion what  to  remit  it  in.  Accordingly  he  gave 
me  an  order.  This  afterwards  occasioned  me  a 
great  deal  of  uneasiness. 

At  Newport  we  took  in  a  number  of  passen- 
gers for  New  York,  among  which  were  two 
young  women  companions,  and  a  grave,  sen- 
sible, matron-like  Quaker  woman,  with  her 
attendants.  I  had  shown  an  obliging  willingness 
to  do  her  some  little  services,  which  impressed 
her  I  suppose  with  a  degree  of  good-will  toward 
me;  therefore,  when  she  saw  a  daily  growing 
familiarity  between  me  and  the  two  young  wo- 
men, which  they  appeared  to  encourage,  she 
took  me  aside,  and  said,  "Young  man,  I  am  con- 
cerned for  thee,  as  thou  hast  no  friend  with  thee, 
and  seem  not  to  know  much  of  the  world,  or  of 
the  snares  youth  is  exposed  to;  depend  upon  it, 
those  are  very  bad  women;  I  can  see  it  in  all 
their  actions;  and  if  thou  art  not  upon  thy 
guard,  they  will  draw  thee  into  some  danger; 
they  are  strangers  to  thee,  and  I  advise  thee,  in 
a  friendly  concern  for  thy  welfare,  to  have  no 
acquaintance  with  them." 

As  I  seemed  at  first  not  to  think  so  ill  of  them 
as  she  did,  she  mentioned  some  things  she  had 
observed  and  heard  that  had  escaped  my  notice, 


32  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

but  now  convinced  me  she  was  right.  I  thanked 
her  for  her  kind  advice,  and  I  promised  to 
follow  it. 

When  we  arrived  at  New  York  they  told  me 
where  they  lived  and  invited  me  to  come  and 
see  them;  but  I  avoided  it,  and  it  was  well  I  did; 
for  the  next  day  the  captain  missed  a  silver 
spoon  and  some  other  things  that  had  been 
taken  out  of  his  cabin,  and  knowing  these  were  a 
couple  of  strumpets,  he  got  a  warrant  to  search 
their  lodgings,  found  the  stolen  goods  and  had 
the  thieves  punished.  So  tho'  we  had  escaped  a 
sunken  rock,  which  we  scraped  upon  in  the 
passage,  I  thought  this  escape  of  rather  more 
importance  to  me. 

At  New  York  I  found  my  friend  Collins,  who 
had  arrived  there  sometime  before  me.  We  had 
been  intimate  from  children,  and  had  read  the 
same  books  together;  but  he  had  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  more  time  for  reading  and  studying, 
and  a  wonderful  genius  for  mathematical 
learning,  in  which  he  far  outstript  me.  While  I 
lived  in  Boston,  most  of  my  hours  of  leisure 
for  conversation  were  spent  with  him,  and  he 
continued  a  sober  as  well  as  an  industrious  lad; 
was  much  respected  for  his  learning  by  several 
of  the  clergy  and  other  gentlemen,  and  seemed 
to  promise  to  make  a  good  figure  in  life.  But, 
during  my  absence  he  had  acquired  a  habit  of 


A    QUAKERESS    BEFRIENDS    HIM  33 

sotting  with  brandy;  and  I  found  by  his  own 
account,  and  what  I  heard  from  others,  that  he 
had  been  drunk  every  day  since  his  arrival  at 
New  York,  and  behaved  very  oddly.  He  had 
gam'd  it  too,  and  lost  money,  so  that  I  was 
obliged  to  discharge  his  lodgings  and  defray  his 
expenses  to  and  at  Philadelphia  which  proved 
extremely  inconvenient  to  me. 

The  then  governor  of  New  York,  Burnet  (son 
of  Bishop  Burnet),  hearing  from  the  captain 
that  a  young  man,  one  of  the  passengers,  had  a 
great  many  books,  desired  he  would  bring  me  to 
see  him.  I  waited  upon  him  accordingly,  and 
should  have  taken  Collins  with  me  but  he  was 
not  sober.  The  governor  treated  me  with  great 
civility,  showed  me  his  library  which  was  a  very 
large  one,  and  we  had  a  good  deal  of  conver- 
sation about  books  and  authors.  This  was  the 
second  governor  who  had  done  me  the  honor  to 
take  notice  of  me,  which  to  a  poor  boy  like  me 
was  pleasing. 

We  proceeded  to  Philadelphia.  I  received  on 
the  way  Vernon's  money,  without  which  we 
could  hardly  have  finished  our  journey.  Collins 
wished  to  be  employed  in  some  counting  house; 
but  whether  they  discovered  his  dramming  by 
his  breath  or  by  his  behavior,  tho '  he  had  some 
recommendations,  he  met  with  no  success  in  any 
application,  and  continued  lodging  and  boarding 


34  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

at  the  same  house  with  me,  and  at  my  expense. 
Knowing  I  had  that  money  of  Vernon's  he  was 
continually  borrowing  of  me,  still  promising 
repayment  as  soon  as  he  should  be  in  business. 
At  length  he  had  got  so  much  of  it  that  I  was 
distressed  to  think  what  I  should  do  in  case  of 
being  called  on  to  remit  it. 


Chapter  Four 

TRUST  NOT  IN  PROMISES 

MIS  EXCESSIVE  drinking  continued, 
about  which  we  often  quarrell'd;  for 
when  a  little  intoxicated,  he  was  very 
fractious.  Once,  in  a  boat  on  the  Dela- 
ware with  some  other  young  men,  he  refused  to 
row  in  his  turn. 

"I  will  be  row'd  home,"  says  he. 

"We  will  not  row  you,"  says  I. 

"You  must  or  stay  all  night  on  the  water," 
says  he,  "just  as  you  please." 

The  other  said  "Let  us  row;  what  signifies 
it?" 

But  my  mind  being  soured  with  his  other 
conduct,  I  continued  to  refuse.  So  he  swore  he 
would  make  me  row,  or  throw  me  overboard; 
and  coming  along,  stepping  on  the  thwarts, 
toward  me,  when  he  came  up  and  struck  at  me, 
I  clapped  my  other  hand  on  his  crutch,  and  ris- 
ing, pitched  him  head  foremost  into  the  river. 
I  knew  he  was  a  good  swimmer,  and  so  was 
under  little  concern  about  him;  but  before  he 
could  get  around  to  lay  hold  of  the  boat,  we  had 
with  a  few  strokes  pulled  her  out  of  reach;  and 
ever  when  he  drew  near  the  boat,  we  asked  if  he 
would  row,  striking  a  few  strokes  to  slide  away 

35 


36  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

from  him.  He  was  ready  to  die  with  vexation, 
and  obstinately  would  not  promise  to  row. 
However,  seeing  him  at  last  beginning  to  tire, 
we  lifted  him  in  and  brought  him  home  dripping 
wet  in  the  evening. 

We  hardly  exchanged  a  civil  word  afterwards, 
and  a  West  Indian  captain,  who  had  a  commis- 
sion to  procure  a  tutor  for  the  sons  of  a  gentle- 
man at  Barbadoes,  happening  to  meet  with  him, 
agreed  to  carry  him  thither.  He  left  me  then, 
promising  to  remit  me  the  first  money  he  should 
receive  in  order  to  discharge  the  debt;  but  I 
never  heard  of  him  after. 

The  breaking  into  this  money  of  Vernon's 
was  the  first  of  the  great  errata  of  my  life;  and 
the  affair  showed  my  father  was  not  much  out 
in  his  judgment  when  he  supposed  me  too  young 
to  manage  business  of  importance.  But  Sir 
William,  on  reading  his  letter,  said  he  was  too 
prudent.  There  was  great  difference  in  persons; 
and  discretion  did  not  always  accompany  years, 
nor  was  youth  always  without  it. 

"And  since  he  will  not  set  you  up,"  says  he, 
"I  will  do  it  myself.  Give  me  an  inventory  of 
the  things  necessary  from  England,  and  I  will 
send  for  them.  You  shall  repay  me  when  you 
are  able;  I  am  resolved  to  have  a  good  printer 
here,  and  I  am  sure  you  must  succeed." 


TRUST    NOT   IN    PROMISES  37 

This  was  spoken  with  an  appearance  of  cor- 
diality, that  I  had  not  the  least  doubt  of  his 
meaning  what  he  said.  I  had  hitherto  kept  the 
proposition  of  setting  up  a  secret  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  I  still  kept  it.  Had  it  been  known  that 
I  depended  on  the  governor,  probably  some 
friend  that  knew  him  better  would  have  advised 
me  not  to  rely  on  him,  as  I  afterwards  heard  it 
was  his  known  character  to  be  liberal  of  promises 
which  he  never  meant  to  keep.  Yet,  unsolicited 
as  he  was  by  me,  how  could  I  think  his  generous 
offer  insincere?  I  believed  him  one  of  the  best 
men  in  the  world. 

I  presented  him  an  inventory  of  a  little  print- 
ing house,  amounting  to  (by  my  computation) 
about  one  hundred  pounds  sterling.  He  liked  it, 
but  asked  me  if  my  being  on  the  spot  in  England 
to  choose  the  types,  and  see  that  everything 
was  good  of  the  kind,  might  not  be  of  some 
advantage. 

"Then,"  said  he,  "when  there  you  can  make 
acquaintances,  and  establish  correspondences 
in  the  bookselling  and  stationery  way." 

I  agreed  that  this  might  be  advantageous. 

"Then,"  says  he,  "get  yourself  ready  to  go 
with  Annis;"  which  was  the  annual  ship,  and 
the  only  one  at  that  time  usually  passing  be- 
tween London  and  Philadelphia. 


38  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

But  it  would  be  some  months  before  the  Annis 
sailed  so  I  continued  working  with  Keimer, 
fretting  about  the  money  Collins  had  got  from 
me,  and  in  daily  apprehension  of  being  called 
upon  by  Vernon,  which,  however,  did  not  hap- 
pen for  some  years  after. 

I  believe  I  have  omitted  mentioning  that,  in 
my  first  voyage  from  Boston,  being  becalmed  off 
Block  Island,  our  people  set  about  catching  cod, 
and  hauled  up  a  great  many.  Hitherto  I  had 
stuck  to  my  resolution  of  not  eating  animal 
food,  and  on  this  occasion,  I  considered,  with 
my  master  Tryon,  the  taking  of  every  fish  as  a 
kind  of  unprovoked  murder,  since  none  of  them 
had,  or  ever  could  do  us  any  injury  that  might 
justify  the  slaughter.  All  this  seemed  very 
reasonable.  But  I  had  formerly  been  a  great 
lover  of  fish,  and  when  this  came  hot  out  of  the 
frying-pan,  it  smelt  admirably  well.  I  balanced 
some  time  between  principle  and  inclination  till 
I  recollected  that,  when  the  fish  were  opened, 
I  saw  smaller  fish  taken  out  of  their  stomachs; 
then  thought  I,  "If  you  eat  one  another,  I  don't 
see  why  we  mayn't  eat  you." 

So  I  dined  upon  cod  very  heartily,  and  con- 
tinued to  eat  with  other  people,  returning  only 
now  and  then  occasionally  to  a  vegetable  diet. 
So  convenient  a  thing  is  it  to  be  a  reasonable 


TRUST    NOT    IN    PROMISES  39 

creature,  since  it  enables  one  to  find  or  make  a 
reason  for  every  thing  one  has  a  mind  to  do. 

Keimer  and  I  lived  on  a  pretty  good  familiar 
footing,  and  agreed  tolerably  well,  for  he  sus- 
pected nothing  of  my  setting  up.  He  retained  a 
great  deal  of  his  old  enthusiasms  and  loved  ar- 
gumentation. We  therefore  had  many  disputa- 
tions. I  used  to  work  him  so  with  my  Socratic 
method,  and  had  trepanned  him  so  often  by 
questions  apparently  so  distant  from  any  point 
we  had  in  hand,  and  yet  by  degrees  led  to  the 
point,  and  brought  him  into  difficulties  and 
contradictions,  that  at  last  he  grew  ridiculously 
cautious,  and  would  hardly  answer  me  the  most 
common  question,  without  asking  first,  "What 
do  you  intend  to  infer  from  that?" 

However,  he  gave  me  so  high  an  opinion  of 
my  ability  in  the  confuting  way,  that  he  ser- 
iously proposed  my  being  his  colleague  in  a 
project  he  had  of  setting  up  a  new  sect.  He  was 
to  preach  the  doctrines,  and  I  was  to  confound 
all  opponents.  When  he  came  to  explain  with 
me  upon  the  doctrines,  I  found  several  conun- 
drums which  I  objected  to,  unless  I  might  have 
my  way  a  little  too,  and  introduce  some  of  mine. 

Keimer  wore  his  beard  in  full  length  because 
somewhere  in  the  Mosaic  law  it  is  said,  "Thou 
shalt  not  mar  the  corners  of  thy  beard."  He 
likewise  kept  the  seventh  day,  Sabbath;  and 


40  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

these  two  points  were  essentials  with  him.  I 
disliked  both;  and  agreed  to  admit  them  on 
condition  of  his  adopting  the  doctrine  of  using 
no  animal  food. 

"I  doubt,"  said  he,  "my  constitution  will 
bear  that." 

I  then  assured  him  it  would  and  that  he  would 
be  better  for  it.  He  was  usually  a  great  glutton, 
and  I  promised  myself  some  diversion  in  half 
starving  him.  He  agreed  to  try  the  practice  if 
I  would  keep  him  company.  I  did  so,  and  we 
held  it  for  three  months.  We  had  our  victuals 
dressed,and  brought  to  us  regularly  by  a  woman 
in  the  neighborhood,  who  had  from  me  a  list 
of  forty  dishes,  to  be  prepared  for  us  at  different 
times,  in  all  which  there  was  neither  fish,  flesh 
nor  fowl,  and  the  whim  suited  me  better  at 
this  time  from  the  cheapness  of  it,  not  costing 
us  above  eighteen  pence  sterling  each  per  week. 

I  have  since  kept  several  Lents  most  strictly, 
leaving  the  common  diet  for  that,  and  that  for 
common,  abruptly,  without  the  least  inconven- 
ience, so  that  I  think  there  is  little  in  the  advice 
of  making  those  changes  by  easy  gradations. 
I  went  on  pleasantly,  but  poor  Keimer  suffered 
grievously,  tired  of  the  project,  longed  for  the 
flesh  pot  of  Egypt,  and  ordered  a  roast  pig.  He 
invited  me  and  two  women  friends  to  dine  with 
him;  but  it  being  brought  too  soon  on  the  table, 


TRUST    NOT    IN    PROMISES  4! 

he  could  not  resist  the  temptation,  and  ate 
the  whole  before  we  came. 

I  had  made  some  courtship  during  this  time 
to  Miss  Read.  I  had  a  great  respect  and  affec- 
tion for  her,  and  had  some  reason  to  believe  she 
had  the  same  forme;  but  as  I  was  about  to  take 
a  long  voyage,  and  we  were  both  very  young, 
only  a  little  above  eighteen,  it  was  thought  most 
prudent  by  her  mother  to  prevent  our  going  too 
far  at  present,  as  a  marriage,  if  it  was  to  take 
place,  would  be  more  convenient  after  my  re- 
turn, when  I  should  be,  as  I  expected,  set  up 
in  my  business.  Perhaps,  too,  she  thought  my 
expectations  not  so  well  founded  as  I  imagined 
them  to  be. 

My  chief  acquaintances  at  this  time  were 
Charles  Osborne,  Joseph  Watson,  and  James 
Ralph,  all  lovers  of  reading.  The  two  first  were 
clerks  to  an  eminent  scrivener  or  conveyancer 
in  the  town,  Charles  Brogden;  the  other  was  a 
clerk  to  a  merchant. 

Watson  was  a  pious,  sensible  young  man,  of 
great  integrity;  the  others  rather  more  lax  in 
their  principles  of  religion,  particularly  Ralph, 
who,  as  well  as  Collins,  had  been  unsettled  by 
me,  for  which  they  both  made  me  suffer. 

Osborne  was  sensible,  candid,  frank;  sincere 
and  affectionate  to  his  friends;  but,  in  literary 
matters,  too  fond  of  criticising. 


42  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

Ralph  was  ingenious,  genteel  in  his  manners, 
and  extremely  eloquent;  I  think  I  never  knew  a 
prettier  talker.  Both  of  them  great  admirers  of 
poetry  and  began  to  try  their  hands  in  little 
pieces.  Many  pleasant  walks  we  four  had  to- 
gether on  Sundays  into  the  woods,  near  Schuyl- 
kill,  where  we  read  to  one  another,  and  conferred 
on  what  we  read. 

Ralph  was  inclined  to  pursue  the  study  of 
poetry,  not  doubting  but  he  might  become  emi- 
nent in  it,  and  make  his  fortune  by  it,  alleging 
that  the  best  poets  must,  when  they  first  begin 
to  write,  make  as  many  faults  as  he  did.  Osborne, 
dissuaded  him,  assured  him  he  had  no  genius  for 
poetry,  and  advised  him  to  think  of  nothing  be- 
yond the  business  he  was  bred  to;  that  in  the 
mercantile  way,  tho'  he  had  no  stock,  he  might, 
by  his  diligence  and  punctuality,  recommend 
himself  to  employment  as  a  factor,  and  in  time 
acquire  wherewith  to  trade  on  his  own  account. 
I  approved  the  amusing  one's  self  with  poetry 
now  and  then,  so  far  as  to  improve  one's 
language,  but  no  further. 

On  this  it  was  proposed  that  we  should  each 
of  us,  at  our  next  meeting,  produce  a  piece  of 
our  own  composing,  in  order  to  improve  by  our 
mutual  observations,  criticisms,  and  corrections. 
As  language  and  expression  were  what  we  had 
in  view,  we  excluded  all  consideration  of 


TRUST    NOT   IN    PROMISES  43 

invention  and  agreed  that  the  task  should  be  a 
version  of  the  eighteenth  Psalm,  which  describes 
the  descent  of  a  Deity.  When  the  time  of  our 
meeting  drew  nigh,  Ralph  called  on  me  first  and 
let  me  know  his  piece  was  ready.  I  told  him  I 
had  been  busy,  and,  having  little  inclination, 
had  done  nothing.  He  then  showed  me  his  piece 
for  my  opinion,  and  1  much  approved  it,  as  it 
appeared  to  me  to  have  great  merit. 

"Now,"  says  he,  "Osborne  never  will  allow 
the  least  merit  in  anything  of  mine,  but  makes  a 
thousand  criticisms  out  of  mere  envy.  He  is  not 
so  jealous  of  you;  I  wish  therefore,  you  would 
take  this  piece,  and  produce  it  as  yours;  I  will 
pretend  not  to  have  had  time  and  will  produce 
nothing.  We  shall  then  see  what  he  will  say. 

It  was  agreed  and  I  immediately  transcribed 
it,  that  it  might  appear  in  my  own  hand. 

We  met;  Watson's  performance  was  read; 
there  were  some  beauties  in  it,  but  many  defects. 
Osborne's  was  read;  it  was  much  better;  Ralph 
did  it  justice;  remarked  some  faults,  but  ap- 
plauded the  beauties.  He  himself  had  nothing 
to  produce,  I  was  backward;  seemed  desirous 
of  being  excused;  had  not  had  sufficient  time  to 
correct,  etc.;  but  no  excuse  could  be  admitted; 
produce  I  must.  It  was  read  and  repeated;  Wat- 
son and  Osborne  gave  up  the  contest,  and  joined 
in  applauding  it.  Ralph  only  made  some 


44  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

criticisms,  and  proposed  some  amendments,  but 
I  defended  my  text.  Osborne  was  against'^Ralph, 
and  told  him  he  was  no  better  critic  than  poet, 
so  he  dropped  the  argument.  As  they  two  went 
home  together,  Osborne  expressed  himself  still 
more  strongly  in  favor  of  what  he  thought  my 
production;  having  restrained  himself  before, 
as  he  said  lest  I  should  think  it  flattery. 

"But  who  would  have  imagined,"  said  he, 
"Franklin  had  been  capable  of  such  a  perform- 
ance; such  painting;  such  force,  such  fire!  He 
has  even  improved  the  original.  In  his  common 
conversation  he  seems  to  have  no  choice  of 
words;  he  hesitates  and  blunders;  and  yet, 
Good  God!  How  he  writes !" 

When  we  next  met  Ralph  discovered  the  trick 
we  had  played  him,  and  Osborne  was  a  little 
laughed  at. 

This  transaction  fixed  Ralph  in  his  resolution 
of  becoming  a  poet.  I  did  all  I  could  to  dissuade 
him  from  it,  but  he  continued  scribbling  verses 
till  Pope  cured  him.  He  became,  however,  a 
pretty  good  prose  writer.  More  of  him  hereafter. 
But  as  I  may  not  have  occasion  again  to  mention 
the  other  two,  I  shall  just  remark  here,  that 
Watson  died  in  my  arms  a  few  years  after,  much 
lamented,  being  the  best  of  our  set.  Osborne 
went  to  the  West  Indies,  where  he  became  an 
eminent  lawyer  and  made  money  but  died  young. 


DR.  FRANKLIN'S  remarks  relative  to  this  press,  made  when  he  came  to 
England  as  agent  of  the  Massachusetts  in  1768.  The  Dr.  at  this  time 
visited  the  printing  office  of  Mr.  Watts,  of  Wild  Street,  Lincoln's  Inn 
Fields,  and  going  up  to  this  particular  press,  thus  addressed  the  men 
who  were  working  at  it:  "Come,  my  friends,  we  will  drink  together:  it  is 
now  forty  years  since  I  worked  like  you,  at  this  press,  as  a  journeyman 
printer."  The  Dr.  then  sent  for  a  gallon  of  porter,  and  he  drank  with 
them,  "Success  to  Printing."  (Inscription  on  the  above  hand  press.) 

IT  is  197  years  since  Franklin  worked  at  this  press,  now  in  the  National 
Museum,  Washington,  D.  C.,  the  gift  of  John  B.  Murray,  banker,  184! 


TRUST    NOT   IN    PROMISES  45 

He  and  I  had  made  a  serious  agreement,  that 
the  one  who  happened  first  to  die  should,  if 
possible,  make  a  friendly  visit  to  the  other,  and 
acquaint  him  how  he  found  things  in  that  sep- 
arate state.  But  he  never  fulfilled  his  promise. 

The  governor,  seeming  to  like  my  company, 
had  me  frequently  to  his  house,  and  his  setting 
me  up  was  always  mentioned  as  a  fixed  thing. 
I  was  to  take  with  me  letters  recommendatory 
to  a  number  of  his  friends,  besides  the  letter  of 
credit  to  furnish  me  with  the  necessary  money 
for  purchasing  the  press  and  types,  paper,  etc. 
For  these  letters  I  was  appointed  to  call  at  dif- 
ferent times,  when  they  were  to  be  ready,  but 
a  future  time  was  still  named.  Thus  he  went  on 
till  the  ship,  whose  departure  too  had  several 
times  been  postponed,  was  on  the  point  of  sail- 
ing. Then,  when  I  called  to  take  my  leave  and 
receive  the  letters,  his  secretary,  Dr.  Bard, 
came  out  to  me  and  said  the  governor  was  ex- 
tremely busy  writing,  but  would  be  down  at 
Newcastle  before  the  ship,  and  there  the  let- 
ters would  be  delivered  to  me. 

Ralph,  though  married  and  having  one  child, 
had  determined  to  accompany  me  on  this  voy- 
age. It  was  thought  he  intended  to  establish 
a  correspondence,  and  obtain  goods  to  sell  on 
commission;  but  I  found  afterwards,  that  thro' 
some  discontent  with  his  wife's  relations,  he 


46  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

purposed  to  leave  her  on  their  hands  and  never 
return  again. 

Having  taken  leave  of  my  friends,  and  inter- 
changed some  promise  with  Miss  Read,  I  left 
Philadelphia  in  the  ship,  which  anchored  at 
Newcastle.  The  governor  was  there,  but  when 
I  went  to  his  lodging,  the  secretary  came  to  me 
from  him  with  the  civilest  message  in  the  world, 
that  he  could  not  then  see  me,  being  engaged  in 
business  of  the  utmost  importance,  but  should 
send  the  letters  to  me  on  board,  wished  me 
heartily  a  good  voyage  and  a  speedy  return, 
etc.  I  returned  on  board  a  little  puzzled  and 
yet  not  doubting. 


(Chapter  Five 
GETS  WORK  IN  LONDON 

MR.  ANDREW  HAMILTON,  a 
famous  lawyer  of  Philadelphia,  had 
taken  passage  in  the  same  ship  for 
himself  and  son,  and  with  Mr.  Den- 
ham,  a  Quaker  merchant,  and  Messrs.  Onino 
and  Russel,  masters  of  iron  works  in  Mary- 
land, had  engaged  the  great  cabin  so  that  Ralph 
and  I  were  forced  to  take  up  with  a  berth  in  the 
steerage,  and  none  on  board  knowing  us,  we 
were  considered  as  ordinary  persons.  But  Mr. 
Hamilton  and  his  son  (it  was  James,  since 
governor)  returned  from  New  Castle  to  Philadel- 
phia, the  father  being  called  by  a  great  fee  to 
plead  for  a  seized  ship,  and  just  before  we  sailed, 
Colonel  French,  coming  on  board  and  showing 
me  great  respect,  I  was  more  taken  notice  of  and 
with  my  friend  Ralph  invited  by  the  other 
gentlemen  to  come  into  the  cabin,  there  now 
being  room.  Accordingly,  we  removed  thither. 
Understanding  that  Colonel  French  had 
brought  on  board  the  governor's  dispatches,  I 
asked  the  captain  for  those  letters  that  were  to 
be  under  my  care.  He  said  all  were  put  into  the 
bag  together  and  he  could  not  then  come  at 
them;  but  before  we  landed  in  England  I  should 

47 


48  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

have  an  opportunity  of  picking  them  out;  so  I 
was  satisfied  for  the  present,  and  we  proceeded 
on  our  voyage.  We  had  a  sociable  company  in 
the  cabin,  and  lived  uncommonly  well,  having 
the  addition  of  all  Mr.  Hamilton's  stores,  who 
had  laid  in  plentifully.  In  this  passage  Mr.  Den- 
ham  contracted  a  friendship  for  me  that  con- 
tinued through  life.  The  voyage  was  otherwise 
not  a  pleasant  one,  as  we  had  a  great  deal  of 
bad  weather. 

When  we  came  into  the  Channel,  the  captain 
kept  his  word  with  me,  and  gave  me  an  oppor- 
tunity of  examining  the  bag  for  the  governor's 
letters.  I  found  none  upon  which  my  name  was 
put  as  under  my  care.  I  picked  out  six  or  seven 
that,  by  the  handwriting,  I  thought  might  be 
the  promised  letters,  especially  as  one  of  them 
was  directed  to  Basket,  the  King's  printer,  and 
another  to  some  stationer.  We  arrived  in  Lon- 
don the  24th  of  December,  1724.  I  waited  upon 
the  stationer,  who  came  first  in  my  way,  de- 
livering the  letter  as  from  Governor  Keith. 

"I  don't  know  such  a  person,"  said  he;  but 
opening  the  letter,  "O!  this  is  from  Riddlesden. 
I  have  recently  found  him  to  be  a  complete 
rascal,  and  I  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  him, 
nor  receive  any  letters  from  him." 

So,  putting  the  letter  in  my  hand,  he  turned  on 
his  heel  and  left  me,  to  serve  a  customer.  I  was 
surprised  to  find  these  were  not  the  governor's 


GETS    WORK   IN    LONDON  49 

letters;  and  after  recollecting  and  comparing 
circumstances  I  began  to  doubt  his  sincerity. 
I  found  my  friend  Denham,  and  opened  the 
whole  affair  to  him.  He  let  me  into  Keith's 
character,  told  me  there  was  not  the  least 
probability  that  he  had  written  the  letters  for 
me;  that  none  who  knew  him  had  the  smallest 
dependence  on  him;  and  he  laughed  at  the  no- 
tion of  the  governor's  giving  me  a  letter  of 
credit,  having  as  he  said,  no  credit  to  give.  On 
my  expressing  my  concern  about  what  I  should 
do,  he  advised  me  to  endeavor  getting  some 
employment  in  the  way  of  my  business. 

"Among  the  printers  here,"  said  he,  "y°u 
will  improve  yourself,  and  when  you  return  to 
America,  you  will  set  up  to  greater  advantage." 

We  both  of  us  happened  to  know,  as  well  as 
the  stationer,  that  Riddlesden,  the  attorney, 
was  a  very  knave.  He  had  half  ruined  Miss 
Read's  father  by  persuading  him  to  be  bound 
for  him.  By  this  letter  it  appeared  there  was  a 
secret  scheme  on  foot  to  the  prejudice  of  Ham- 
ilton (supposed  to  be  then  coming  over  with  us); 
and  that  Keith  was  concerned  in  it  with  Rid- 
dlesden. Denham,  who  was  a  friend  of  Ham- 
ilton's, thought  he  ought  to  be  acquainted  with 
it;  so  when  he  arrived  in  England,  which  was 
soon  after,  partly  from  resentment  and  ill-will 
to  Keith  and  Riddlesden,  and  partly  from  good 


5O  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

will  to  him,  I  waited  on  him  and  gave  him  the 
letter.  He  thanked  me  cordially,  the  informa- 
tion being  of  importance  to  him;  and  from  that 
time  he  became  my  friend,  greatly  to  my 
advantage  afterwards  on  many  occasions. 

But  what  shall  we  think  of  a  governor's 
playing  such  pitiful  tricks,  and  imposing  so 
grossly  on  a  poor  ignorant  boy?  It  was  a  habit 
he  had  acquired.  He  wished  to  please  every- 
body; and  having  little  to  give,  he  gave  ex- 
pectations. He  was  otherwise  ingenious  and  a 
sensible  man,  a  pretty  good  writer,  and  a  good 
governor  for  the  people,  tho'  not  for  his  constitu- 
ents, the  proprietaries,  whose  instructions  he 
sometimes  disregarded.  Several  of  our  best  laws 
were  of  his  planning  and  passed  during  his 
administration. 

Ralph  and  I  were  inseparable  companions. 
We  took  lodgings  together  in  Little  Britain  at 
three  shillings  and  sixpence  a  week — as  much  as 
we  could  afford.  He  now  let  me  know  his  in- 
tentions of  remaining  in  London  and  that  he 
never  meant  to  return  to  Philadelphia.  He  had 
brought  no  money  with  him,  the  whole  he 
could  muster  having  been  expended  in  paying 
his  passage.  I  had  fifteen  pistoles,  so  he  bor- 
rowed occasionally  of  me  to  subsist,  while  he 
was  looking  out  for  business. 


GETS    WORK   IN    LONDON  5! 

He  first  endeavored  to  get  into  the  playhouse 
believing  himself  qualified  for  an  actor,  but 
Wilkes,  to  whom  he  applied,  advised  him  can- 
didly not  to  think  of  that  employment,  as  it  was 
impossible  that  he  should  succeed  in  it.  Then  he 
proposed  to  Roberts,  a  publisher  in  Paternoster 
Row,  to  write  for  him  a  weekly  paper  like  the 
Spectator,  on  certain  conditions,  which  Roberts 
did  not  approve.  Then  he  endeavored  to  get 
employment  as  a  hackney  writer,  to  copy  for 
the  stationers  and  lawyers  about  the  Temple, 
but  could  find  no  vacancy. 

I  immediately  got  into  work  at  Palmer's, 
then  a  famous  printing  house  in  Bartholomew 
Close,  and  here  I  continued  near  a  year.  I  was 
pretty  diligent,  but  spent  with  Ralph  a  good 
deal  of  my  earnings  in  going  to  plays,  and  other 
places  of  amusement.  We  had  together  con- 
sumed all  my  pistoles,  and  now  just  rubbed  on 
from  hand  to  mouth.  He  seemed  quite  to  forget 
his  wife  and  child,  and  I,  by  degrees,  my  engage- 
ments with  Miss  Read,  to  whom  I  never  wrote 
more  than  one  letter,  and  that  was  to  let  her 
know  I  was  not  likely  soon  to  return. 

This  was  another  of  the  great  errata  of  my  life, 
which  I  should  wish  to  correct  if  I  were  to  live 
it  over  again.  In  fact,  by  our  expenses  I  was 
constantly  kept  unable  to  pay  my  passage. 


52  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

At  Palmer's  I  was  employed  in  composing  for 
the  second  edition  of  Wollaston's  "Religion 
of  Nature."  Some  of  his  reasonings  not  appear- 
ing to  me  well  founded,  I  wrote  a  little  meta- 
physical piece  in  which  I  made  remarks  on  them. 
It  was  entitled  "A  Dissertation  on  Liberty  and 
Necessity,  Pleasure  and  Pain."  I  inscribed  it 
to  my  friend  Ralph;  I  printed  a  small  number. 
It  occasioned  my  being  more  considered  by  Mr. 
Palmer  as  a  young  man  of  some  ingenuity, 
though  he  seriously  expostulated  with  me  upon 
the  principles  of  my  pamphlet,  which  to  him 
appeared  abominable.  My  printing  this  pam- 
phlet was  another  erratum. 

While  I  lodged  in  Little  Britain,  I  made  an 
acquaintance  with  one  Wilcox,  a  bookseller, 
whose  shop  was  at  the  next  door.  He  had  an 
immense  collection  of  second-hand  books.  Cir- 
culating libraries  were  not  then  in  use;  but  we 
agreed  that,  on  certain  reasonable  terms,  which 
I  have  not  forgotten,  I  might  take,  read  and 
return  any  of  his  books. 


Chapter  Six 
HE  PHILOSOPHIZES  ON  BEER  DRINKING 

MY  PAMPHLET  by  some  means  fall- 
ing into  the  hands  of  one  Lyons,  a 
surgeon,  author  of  a  book  entitled 
"The  Infallibility  of  Human  Judg- 
ment," it  occasioned  an  acquaintance  between 
us.    He  took  great  notice  of  me,  called  on  me 
often  to  converse  on  those  subjects,  carried  me 

to  the  Horns,  a  pale  ale  house  in  Lane, 

Cheapside,  and  introduced  me  to  Doctor 
Mandeville,  author  of  the  "Fables  of  the  Bees," 
who  had  a  club  there,  of  which  he  was  the  soul, 
being  the  most  facetious,  entertaining  compan- 
ion. Lyons,  too,  introduced  me  to  Doctor  Pem- 
berton,  at  Baston's  coffee  house,  who  promised 
to  give  me  an  opportunity,  some  time  or  other, 
of  seeing  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  of  which  I  was  ex- 
tremely desirous;  but  this  never  happened. 

I  had  brought  over  a  few  curiosities,  among 
which  the  principal  was  a  purse  made  of  the 
asbestos,  which  purifies  by  fire.  Sir  Hans  Sloane 
heard  of  it,  came  to  see  me,  and  invited  me  to 
his  house  in  Bloomsbury  Square,  where  he 
showed  me  all  his  curiosities,  and  persuaded  me 
to  let  him  add  that  to  the  number,  for  which  he 
paid  me  handsomely. 

53 


54  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

In  our  house  there  lodged  a  young  woman,  a 
milliner,  who,  I  think,  had  a  shop  in  the  Clois- 
ters. She  had  been  genteelly  bred,  was  sensible 
and  lively,  and  of  most  pleasing  conversation. 

Ralph  read  plays  to  her  in  the  evenings,  they 
grew  intimate,  she  took  another  lodging  and  he 
followed  her.  They  lived  together  some  time; 
but  he  still  being  out  of  business,  and  her  in- 
come not  sufficient  to  maintain  them  with  the 
child,  he  took  a  resolution  of  going  from  London, 
to  try  for  a  country  school,  which  he  thought 
himself  well  qualified  to  undertake,  as  he  wrote 
an  excellent  hand  and  was  master  of  arithmetic 
and  accounts.  This,  however,  he  deemed  a  busi- 
ness below  him,  and  confident  of  future  better 
fortune,  when  he  should  be  unwilling  to  have 
it  known  that  he  once  was  meanly  employed,  he 
changed  his  name,  and  did  me  the  honor  to 
assume  mine;  for  I  soon  after  had  a  letter  from 
him,  acquainting  me  that  he  was  settled  in  a 
small  village  (in  Berkshire,  I  think  it  was,  where 
he  taught  reading  and  writing  to  ten  or  a  dozen 
boys,  at  six-pence  each  week),  and  recommend- 
ing Mrs.  T.  to  my  care,  and  asking  me  to  write 
to  him,  directing  for  Mr.  Franklin,  school- 
master, at  such  a  place. 

He  continued  to  write  frequently,  sending 
me  large  specimens  of  an  epic  poem  which  he 
was  then  composing,  and  desiring  my  remarks 


ON    BEER    DRINKING  55 

and  corrections.  These  I  gave  him  from  time  to 
time,  but  endeavored  rather  to  discourage  his 
proceedings. 

One  of  Young's  Satires  was  then  just  publish- 
ed. I  copied  and  sent  him  a  great  part  of  it, 
which  set  in  strong  light  the  folly  of  pursuing 
the  muses  with  any  hope  of  advancement  by 
them.  All  was  in  vain.  Sheets  of  the  poem 
continued  to  come  by  every  post. 

In  the  meantime  Mrs.  T.,  having  on  his  ac- 
count lost  her  friends  and  business,  was  often 
in  distresses,  and  used  to  send  for  me  and 
borrow  what  I  could  spare  to  help  her  out  of 
them.  I  grew  fond  of  her  company,  and,  being 
at  that  time  under  no  religious  restraint,  and 
presuming  upon  my  importance  to  her,  I  at- 
tempted familiarities  (another  erratum)  which 
she  repulsed  with  a  proper  resentment,  and 
acquainted  him  with  my  behavior. 

This  made  a  breach  between  us;  and,  when  he 
returned  again  to  London,  he  let  me  know  he 
thought  I  had  cancell'd  all  obligations  he  had 
been  under  to  me.  So  I  found  I  was  never  to 
expect  his  repaying  me  what  I  had  lent  him  or 
advanced  for  him.  This,  however,  was  not  then 
of  much  importance  as  he  was  totally  unable; 
and  in  the  loss  of  his  friendship  I  found  myself 
relieved  from  a  burden.  I  now  began  to  think  of 
getting  a  little  money  beforehand,  and,  expecting 


56  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

better  work,  I  left  Palmer's  to  work  at  Watts's 
near  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  a  still  greater  printing 
house.  Here  I  continued  all  the  rest  of  my  stay 
in  London. 

At  my  first  admission  into  this  printing 
house  I  took  to  working  at  the  press,  imagining 
I  felt  a  want  of  bodily  exertion  I  had  been 
used  to  in  America,  where  presswork  is  mixed 
with  composing. 

I  drank  only  water;  the  other  workmen,  near 
fifty  in  number,  were  great  guzzlers  of  beer.  On 
occasions  I  carried  up  and  downstairs  a  large 
form  of  types  in  each  hand  when  others  carried 
but  one  in  both  hands.  They  wondered  to  see, 
from  this  and  other  instances,  that  the  Water- 
American,  as  they  called  me,  was  stronger  than 
themselves  who  drank  strong  beer. 

We  had  an  ale-house  boy  who  attended 
always  in  the  house  to  supply  the  workmen.  My 
companion  at  the  press  drank  every  day  a  pint 
before  breakfast,  a  pint  at  breakfast  with  his 
bread  and  cheese,  a  pint  between  breakfast  and 
dinner,  a  pint  at  dinner,  a  pint  in  the  afternoon 
about  six  o'clock,  and  another  when  he  had  done 
his  day's  work.  I  thought  it  a  detestable  cus- 
tom, but  it  was  necessary,  he  supposed,  to 
drink  strong  beer,  that  he  might  be  strong  to 
labor.  I  endeavored  to  convince  him  that  the 
bodily  strength  afforded  by  beer  could  only  be  in 


ON    BEER   DRINKING  57 

proportion  to  the  grain  of  flour  of  the  barley 
dissolved  in  the  water  of  which  it  was  made; 
that  there  was  more  flour  in  a  pennyworth  of 
bread;  and  therefore,  if  he  would  eat  that  with  a 
pint  of  water,  it  would  give  him  more  strength 
than  a  quart  of  beer.  He  drank  on,  however,  and 
had  four  or  five  shillings  to  pay  out  of  his  wages 
every  Saturday  night  for  that  muddling  liquor; 
an  expense  that  I  was  free  from.  And  thus 
these  poor  devils  keep  themselves  always  under. 
Watts,  after  some  weeks,  desiring  to  have  me 
in  the  composing  room,  I  left  the  pressmen;  a 
new  bien  venu  or  sum  for  drink,  being  five 
shillings,  ($1.20)  was  demanded  of  me  by  the 
compositors.  I  thought  it  an  imposition,  as  I 
had  paid  below;  the  master  thought  so  too  and 
forbade  my  paying  it.  I  stood  out  for  two  or 
three  weeks,  was  accordingly  considered  as  an 
excommunicate,  and  had  so  many  little  pieces  of 
private  mischief  done  me,  by  mixing  my  sorts, 
transposing  my  pages,  breaking  my  matter,  etc., 
etc.,  if  I  were  ever  so  little  out  of  the  room,  and 
all  ascribed  to  the  chapel  ghost,  which  they  said 
ever  haunted  those  not  regularly  admitted,  that 
notwithstanding  the  master's  protection,  I 
found  myself  obliged  to  comply  and  pay  the 
money,  convinced  of  the  folly  of  being  on  ill 
terms  with  those  one  is  to  live  with  continually. 


58  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

I  was  now  on  a  fair  footing  with  them  and 
soon  acquired  considerable  influence.  I  pro- 
posed some  reasonable  alterations  in  their 
chapel  laws,  and  carried  them  against  all  oppo- 
sition. From  my  example,  a  great  part  of  them 
left  their  muddling  breakfast  of  beer  and  bread 
and  cheese,  finding  they  could  with  me  be  sup- 
plied from  a  neighboring  house  with  a  large 
porringer  of  hot-water  gruel,  sprinkled  with 
pepper,  crumbed  with  bread,  and  a  bit  of  butter 
in  it,  for  the  price  of  a  pint  of  beer,  viz.,  three 
half-pence  (3c).  This  was  a  more  comfortable 
as  well  as  cheaper  breakfast,  and  kept  their 
heads  clearer.  Those  who  continued  sotting 
with  beer  all  day  were  often,  by  not  paying,  out 
of  credit  of  the  ale  house,  and  used  to  make  int- 
erest with  me  to  get  beer;  their  light,  as  they 
phrased  it,  being  out.  I  watched  the  pay-table 
on  Saturday  night,  and  collected  what  I  stood 
engaged  for  them,  having  to  pay  sometimes 
thirty  shillings  ($7.20)  a  week  on  their  accounts. 
This,  and  my  being  esteemed  a  pretty  good  sort 
of  a  riggite,  that  is,  a  jocular  verbal  satirist, 
supported  my  consequence  in  the  society. 

My  constant  attendance  (I  never  making  a 
St.  Monday)  recommended  me  to  the  master; 
and  my  uncommon  quickness  at  composing 
occasioned  my  being  put  upon  all  work  of 


ON    BEER    DRINKING  59 

dispatch  which  was  generally  better  paid.  So  I 
went  on  very  agreeably. 

My  lodging  in  Little  Britain  being  too 
remote,  I  found  another  in  Duke  street,  op- 
posite Romish  chapel.  It  was  two  pair  of  stairs 
backwards,  at  an  Italian  warehouse.  A  widow 
lady  kept  the  house;  she  had  a  daughter  and  a 
maid  servant,  and  a  journeyman  who  attended 
the  warehouse,  but  lodged  abroad.  After  send- 
ing to  inquire  my  character  at  the  house  where  I 
last  lodged,  she  agreed  to  take  me  in  at  the  same 
rate,  35.  6d.  (84c)  per  week;  cheaper  she  said, 
from  the  protection  she  expected  in  having  a 
man  lodge  in  the  house. 

She  was  a  widow,  an  elderly  woman;  had  been 
bred  a  Protestant,  being  a  clergyman's  daugh- 
ter, but  was  converted  to  the  Catholic  religion 
by  her  husband,  whose  memory  she  much 
revered;  had  lived  much  among  people  of  dis- 
tinction, and  knew  a  thousand  anecdotes  of 
them  as  far  back  as  the  times  of  Charles  the 
Second.  She  was  lame  in  her  knees  with  the 
gout,  and,  therefore,  seldom  stirred  out  of  her 
room,  so  sometimes  wanted  company;  and 
hers  was  so  highly  amusing  to  me,  that  I  was 
sure  to  spend  an  evening  with  her  whenever 
she  desired  it.  Our  supper  was  only  half  an 
anchovy  each,  on  a  very  little  strip  of  bread  and 


60  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

butter,  and  a  half  pint  of  ale  between  us;  but 
the  entertainment  was  in  her  conversation. 

My  always  keeping  good  hours,  and  giving 
little  trouble  in  the  family,  made  her  unwilling 
to  part  with  me;  so  that  when  I  talked  of  a 
lodging  that  I  heard  of,  nearer  my  business,  for 
two  shillings  (48c)  a  week,  which,  intent  as  I 
now  was  on  saving  money,  made  some  dif- 
ference, she  bid  me  not  think  of  it,  for  she  would 
abate  me  two  shillings  a  week  for  the  future;  so  I 
remained  with  her  for  one  shilling  and  sixpence 
(36c)  as  long  as  I  remained  in  London. 


Chapter  Se^en 
FRANKLIN  RETURNS  TO  PHILADELPHIA 

IN  THE  garret  of  her  house  there  lived  a 
maiden  lady  of  seventy  in  the  most  retired 
manner,  of  whom  my  landlady  gave  me 
this  account;  that  she  was  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic, had  been  sent  abroad  when  young  and 
lodged  in  a  nunnery  with  an  intent  of  becoming 
a  nun;  but  the  country  not  agreeing  with  her, 
she  returned  to  England,  where,  there  being  no 
nunnery,  she  vowed  to  lead  the  life  of  a  nun  as 
near  as  might  be  done  in  those  circumstances. 
Accordingly,  she  had  given  all  her  estate  to 
charitable  uses,  reserving  only  twelve  pounds 
($57.60)  a  year  to  live  on,  and  out  of  this  sum 
she  still  gave  a  great  deal  of  charity,  living  her- 
self on  water  gruel  only,  and  using  no  fire  to  boil 
it.  She  had  lived  many  years  in  that  garret, 
being  permitted  to  remain  there  gratis  by  suc- 
cessive Catholic  tenants  of  the  house  below,  as 
they  deemed  it  a  blessing  to  have  her  there.  A 
priest  visited  her  to  confess  her  every  day. 

"I  have  asked  her,"  said  my  landlady,  "how 
she,  as  she  lived,  could  possibly  find  employ- 
ment for  a  confessor?" 

"Oh,"  said  she,  "it  is  impossible  to  avoid  vain 
thoughts." 

61 


62  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

I  was  permitted  once  to  visit  her.  She  was 
cheerful  and  polite,  and  conversed  politely.  The 
room  was  clean,  but  had  no  other  furniture  than 
a  mattress,  a  table  with  a  crucifix  and  book,  a 
stool  which  she  gave  me  to  sit  on,  and  a  picture 
over  the  chimney  of  Saint  Veronica  displaying 
her  handkerchief,  with  the  miraculous  figure 
of  Christ's  bleeding  face  on  it,  which  she  ex- 
plained to  me  with  great  seriousness.  She 
looked  pale,  but  was  never  sick;  and  I  gave  it  as 
another  instance  on  how  small  an  income,  life 
and  health  may  be  supported. 

At  Watts's  printing  house  I  contracted  an  ac- 
quaintance with  an  ingenious  young  man,  one 
Wygate,  who,  having  wealthy  relations,  had 
been  better  educated  than  most  printers;  was 
a  tolerable  Latinist,  spoke  French,  and  loved 
reading.  I  taught  him  and  a  friend  of  his  to 
swim  at  twice  going  into  the  river,  and  they  soon 
became  good  swimmers.  They  introduced  me  to 
some  gentlemen  from  the  country,  who  went  to 
Chelsea  by  water  to  the  college  and  Don  Sal- 
tero's  curiosities.  In  our  return  at  the  request  of 
the  company,  whose  curiosity  Wygate  had  ex- 
cited, I  stripped  and  leaped  into  the  river,  and 
swam  from  near  Chelsea  to  Blackfriars,  per- 
forming on  the  way  many  feats  of  activity,  both 
upon  and  under  water,  that  surprised  and 
pleased  those  to  whom  they  were  novelties. 


RETURNS   TO    PHILADELPHIA  63 

I  had  from  a  child  ever  delighted  with  this 
exercise,  had  studied  and  practiced  all  Theve- 
not's  motions  and  positions,  added  some  of  my 
own,  aiming  at  the  graceful  and  easy  as  well 
as  the  useful.  All  these  I  took  this  occasion  to 
exhibit  to  the  company,  and  was  much  flattered 
by  their  admiration;  and  Wygate,  who  was  de- 
sirous of  becoming  a  master,  grew  more  and  more 
attached  to  me  on  that  account,  as  well  as  from 
the  similarity  of  our  studies.  He  at  length  pro- 
posed to  me  travelling  all  over  Europe  together, 
supporting  ourselves  everywhere  by  working  at 
our  business.  I  was  once  inclined  to  it;  but,  men- 
tioning it  to  my  good  friend,  Mr.  Denham,  with 
whom  I  often  spent  an  hour  when  I  had  leisure, 
he  dissuaded  me  from  it,  advising  me  to  think 
only  of  returning  to  Pennsylvania,  which  he  was 
now  about  to  do. 

I  must  record  one  trait  of  this  good  man's 
character.  He  had  formerly  been  in  business  at 
Bristol,  but  failed  in  debt  to  a  number  of  people, 
compounded  and  went  to  America.  There,  by  a 
close  application  to  business  as  a  merchant,  he 
acquired  a  plentiful  fortune  in  a  few  years. 
Returning  to  England  in  the  ship  with  me,  he 
invited  all  his  old  creditors  to  an  entertainment, 
at  which  he  thanked  them  for  the  easy  compo- 
sition they  had  favored  him  with,  and  when  they 
expected  nothing  but  the  treat,  every  man  at 


64  MY   PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

the  first  remove  found  under  his  plate  an  order 
on  a  banker  for  the  full  amount  of  the  unpaid 
remainder  with  interest. 

He  now  told  me  he  was  about  to  return  to 
Philadelphia,  and  should  carry  over  a  great 
quantity  of  goods  in  order  to  open  a  store  there. 
He  proposed  to  take  me  over  as  his  clerk,  to 
keep  his  books,  in  which  he  would  instruct  me, 
copy  his  letters,  and  attend  the  store.  He  added, 
that,  as  scon  as  I  should  be  acquainted  with 
mercantile  business,  he  would  promote  me  by 
sending  me  with  a  cargo  of  flour  and  bread,  etc., 
to  the  West  Indies,  and  procure  me  commissions 
from  others  which  would  be  profitable;  and  if  I 
managed  well  would  establish  me  handsomely. 
The  thing  pleased  me;  for  I  was  grown  tired  of 
London,  remembered  with  pleasure  the  happy 
months  I  had  spent  in  Philadelphia,  and  wished 
again  to  see  it;  therefore,  I  immediately  agreed 
on  the  terms  of  fifty  pounds  ($240.00)  a  year, 
Pennsylvania  money;  less,  indeed,  than  my 
present  gettings  as  a  compositor,  but  affording 
a  better  prospect. 

I  now  took  leave  of  printing,  as  I  thought, 
forever,  and  was  daily  employed  in  my  new 
business,  going  about  with  Mr.  Denham  among 
the  tradesmen  to  purchase  various  articles,  and 
seeing  them  packed  up,  doing  errands,  calling 
upon  workmen  to  dispatch,  etc.,  and  when  all 


RETURNS   TO    PHILADELPHIA  65 

was  on  board,  I  had  a  few  days'  leisure.  On  one 
of  these  days,  I  was,  to  my  surprise,  sent  for 
by  a  great  man  I  knew  only  by  name,  a  Sir 
William  Wyndham,  and  I  waited  upon  him.  He 
had  heard  by  some  means  or  other  of  my  swim- 
ming from  Chelsea  to  Blackfriars  and  of  my 
teaching  Wygate  and  another  man  to  swim  in 
a  few  hours.  He  had  two  sons  about  to  set  out 
on  their  travels;  he  wished  to  have  them  first 
taught  swimming,  and  proposed  to  gratify  me 
handsomely  if  I  would  teach  them.  They  were 
not  yet  come  in  town,  and  my  stay  was  uncer- 
tain, so  I  could  not  undertake  it;  but,  from  the 
incident,  I  thought  it  likely  that  if  I  were  to 
remain  in  England  and  open  a  swimming  school, 
I  might  get  a  good  deal  of  money. 

Thus  I  spent  eighteen  months  in  London; 
most  part  of  the  time  I  worked  hard  at  my  busi- 
ness, and  spent  but  little  upon  myself  except  in 
seeing  plays  and  in  books.  My  friend  Ralph  had 
kept  me  poor;  he  owed  me  some  twenty-seven 
pounds  (£129.60),  which  I  was  never  likely  to 
receive;  a  great  sum  out  of  my  small  earnings. 
I  loved  him  notwithstanding,  for  he  had  many 
amiable  qualities.  I  had  by  no  means  improved 
my  fortune;  but  I  had  picked  up  some  very  in- 
genious acquaintances,  whose  conversation  was 
of  great  advantage  to  me;  and  I  had  read 
considerably. 


66  MY   PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

We  sailed  from  Gravesend  on  the  23rd  of 
July,  1726.  For  the  incidents  of  the  voyage  I 
refer  you  to  my  journal,  where  you  will  find 
them  all  minutely  related.  Perhaps  the  most 
important  part  of  that  journal  is  the  plan  to  be 
found  in  it,  which  I  formed  at  sea,  for  regulating 
my  future  conduct  in  life.  It  is  the  more  remark- 
able, as  being  formed  when  I  was  so  young,  and 
yet  being  pretty  faithfully  adhered  to  quite 
thro'  to  old  age. 

We  landed  in  Philadelphia  on  the  nth  of 
October,  where  I  found  sundry  alterations. 
Keith  was  no  longer  governor,  being  superseded 
by  Major  Gordon.  I  met  him  walking  the  streets 
as  a  common  citizen.  He  seemed  a  little  ash- 
amed at  seeing  me,  but  passed  without  saying 
anything.  I  should  have  been  as  much  ashamed 
at  seeing  Miss  Read,  had  not  her  friends,  des- 
pairing with  reason  of  my  return  after  the 
receipt  of  my  letter,  persuaded  her  to  marry 
another,  one  Rogers,  a  potter,  which  was  done 
in  my  absence.  With  him,  however,  she  was 
never  happy,  and  soon  parted  from  him,  refus- 
ing to  cohabit  with  him  or  bear  his  name,  it 
being  now  said  that  he  had  another  wife.  He 
was  a  worthless  fellow,  tho'  an  excellent  work- 
man, which  was  the  temptation  to  her  friends. 
He  got  into  debt,  ran  away  in  1727  or  1728,  went 
to  the  West  Indies,  and  died  there. 


RETURNS    TO    PHILADELPHIA  6j 

Keimer  had  got  a  better  house,  a  shop  well 
supplied  with  stationery,  plenty  of  new  types,  a 
number  of  hands,  tho'  none  good,  and  seemed 
to  have  a  great  deal  of  business. 

Mr.  Denham  took  a  store  in  Water  street, 
where  we  opened  our  goods.  I  attended  the  busi- 
ness diligently,  studied  accounts,  and  grew,  in  a 
little  time,  expert  at  selling.  We  lodged  and 
boarded  together;  he  counselled  me  as  a  father, 
having  a  sincere  regard  for  me.  I  respected  and 
loved  him,  and  we  might  have  gone  on  together 
very  happy;  but,  in  the  beginning  of  February, 
1727,  when  I  had  just  passed  my  twenty-first 
year,  we  were  both  taken  ill.  My  distemper  was 
a  pleurisy,  which  very  nearly  carried  me  off.  I 
suffered  a  good  deal,  gave  up  the  point  in  my 
own  mind,  and  was  rather  disappointed  when  I 
found  myself  recovering,  regretting,  in  some 
degree,  that  I  must  now  some  time  or  other 
have  all  that  disagreeable  work  to  do  over 
again.  I  forget  what  his  distemper  was;  it  held 
him  for  a  long  time,  and  at  length  carried  him 
off.  He  left  me  a  small  legacy  in  a  nuncupative 
will,  as  a  token  of  his  kindness  for  me,  and  he 
left  me  once  more  to  the  wide  world;  for  the 
store  was  taken  into  the  care  of  his  executors, 
and  my  employment  under  him  ended. 

My  brother-in-law,  Holmes,  being  now  in 
Philadelphia,  advised  my  return  to  my  business; 


68  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

and  Keimer  tempted  me,  with  an  offer  of  large 
wages  by  the  year,  to  come  and  take  the  man- 
agement of  his  printing-house,  that  he  might 
better  attend  his  stationer's  shop. 

I  had  heard  a  bad  character  of  him  in  London 
from  his  wife  and  friends,  and  was  not  tond  of 
having  anything  more  to  do  with  him.  I  tried 
for  employment  as  a  merchant's  clerk;  but  not 
readily  meeting  with  any,  I  closed  with  Keimer. 

I  found  in  his  home  these  hands:  Hugh  Mere- 
dith, a  Welsh  Pennsylvanian,  thirty  years  of 
age,  bred  to  country  work;  honest,  sensible,  had 
a  great  deal  of  solid  observation,  was  something 
of  a  reader,  but  given  to  drink.  Stephen  Potts,  a 
young  countryman  of  full  age,  uncommon  nat- 
ural parts,  and  great  wit  and  humor,  but  a  little 
idle.  These  he  had  agreed  with  at  extreme  low 
wages  per  week,  to  be  raised  a  shilling  every 
three  months,  as  they  would  deserve  by  im- 
proving their  business;  and  the  expectation  of 
these  high  wages,  to  come  on  hereafter,  was 
what  he  had  drawn  them  in  with. 

Meredith  was  to  work  at  the  press,  Potts  at 
book-binding,  which  he,  by  agreement  was  to 
teach  them,  tho'  he  knew  neither  one  nor  tother. 
John,  a  wild  young  Irishman  brought  up  to  no 
business,  whose  service  for  four  years  Keimer 
had  purchased  from  the  captain  of  a  ship;  he, 
too,  was  to  be  made  pressman.  George  Webb, 


RETURNS    TO    PHILADELPHIA  69 

an  Oxford  scholar,  whose  time  for  four  years 
had  been  likewise  bought,  intending  him  for  a 
compositor,  of  whom  more  presently;  and 
David  Harry,  a  country  boy,  whom  he  had 
taken  apprentice. 


Chapter  Sight 
KEIMER  QUARRELS  WITH  FRANKLIN 

SOON  PERCEIVED  that  the  intention 
of  engaging  me  at  wages  so  much  higher 
than  he  had  been  used  to  give,  was.  to  have 
these  raw,  cheap  hands  formed  through  me; 
and  as  soon  as  I  had  instructed  them,  then  they 
being  all  articled  to  him,  he  should  be  able  to 
do  without  me. 

I  went  on,  however,  very  cheerfully,  put  his 
printing-house  in  order,  which  had  been  in  great 
confusion  and  brought  his  hands  by  degrees  to 
mind  their  business  and  do  it  better. 

It  was  an  odd  thing  to  find  an  Oxford  scholar 
in  the  situation  of  a  bought  servant.  He  was  not 
more  than  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  gave  me 
this  account  of  himself;  that  he  was  born  in 
Gloucester,  educated  at  a  grammar-school  there, 
had  been  distinguished  among  the  scholars  for 
some  apparent  superiority  in  performing  his 
part,  when  they  exhibited  plays;  belonged  to 
the  Witty  Club  there,  and  had  written  some 
pieces  in  prose  and  verse,  which  were  printed  in 
the  Gloucester  newspapers;  thence  he  was  sent 
to  Oxford,  where  he  continued  about  a  year, 
but  not  well  satisfied,  wishing  of  all  things  to 
see  London,  and  become  a  player.  At  length, 
receiving  his  quarterly  allowance  of  fifteen 

70 


KEIMER   QUARRELS    WITH    FRANKLIN         71 

guineas,  instead  of  discharging  his  debts,  walked 
out  of  town,  hid  his  gown  in  a  furze  bush,  footed 
it  to  London,  where  having  no  friends  to  ad- 
vise him,  he  fell  into  bad  company,  soon  spent 
his  guineas,  found  no  means  of  being  introduced 
among  the  players,  grew  necessitous,  pawned  his 
clothes  and  wanted  bread.  Walking  the  street 
very  hungry,  and  not  knowing  what  to  do  with 
himself,  a  crimped  bill  was  put  into  his  hand, 
offering  immediate  entertainment  and  encour- 
agement to  such  as  would  bind  themselves  to 
serve  in  America.  He  went  directly,  signed  the 
indentures,  was  put  into  the  ship,  and  came  over, 
never  writing  a  line  to  acquaint  his  friends  what 
was  become  of  him.  He  was  lively,  witty,  good 
natured,  and  a  pleasant  companion,  but  idle, 
thoughtless,  and  imprudent  to  the  last  degree. 

John,  the  Irishman,  soon  ran  away;  with  the 
rest  I  began  to  live  very  agreeably,  for  they  all 
respected  me  the  more,  as  they  found  Keimer 
incapable  of  instructing  them,  and  that  from  me 
they  learned  something  daily.  We  never  worked 
on  Saturday,  that  being  Keimer's  Sabbath,  so 
I  had  two  days  for  reading. 

My  acquaintance  with  ingenious  people  in 
the  town  increased.  Keimer  himself  treated  me 
with  great  civility  and  apparent  regard,  and 
nothing  now  made  me  uneasy  but  my  debt  to 
Vernon,  which  I  was  yet  unable  to  pay,  being 


72  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

hitherto  but  a  poor  economist.  He,  however, 
kindly  made  no  demand  for  it. 

Our  printing-house  often  wanted  sorts,  and 
there  was  no  letterfounder  in  America;  I  had 
seen  types  cast  at  James'  in  London,  but  with- 
out much  attention  to  the  manner;  however,  I 
now  contrived  a  mold,  made  use  of  the  letters 
we  had  as  puncheons,  struck  the  matrices  in 
lead,  and  thus  supplied  in  a  pretty  tolerable 
way  all  the  deficiencies.  I  also  engraved  several 
things  on  occasion;  I  made  the  ink;  I  was  ware- 
houseman, and  everything,  and,  in  short,  quite 
a  factotum. 

But,  however  serviceable  I  might  be,  I  found 
that  my  services  became  every  day  of  less  im- 
portance, as  the  other  hands  improved  in  the 
business;  and,  when  Keimer  paid  my  second 
quarter's  wages,  he  let  me  know  that  he  felt 
them  too  heavy,  and  thought  I  should  make  an 
abatement.  He  grew  by  degrees  less  civil,  put 
on  more  of  the  master,  frequently  found  fault, 
was  captious,  and  seemed  ready  for  an  out- 
breaking. 

I  went  on,  nevertheless,  with  a  good  deal  of 
patience,  thinking  that  his  encumbered  circum- 
stances were  partly  the  cause.  At  length  a  trifle 
snapt  our  connections;  for  a  great  noise  happen- 
ing near  the  court-house,  I  put  my  head  out  of 
the  window  to  see  what  was  the  matter.  Keimer, 


KEIMER    QUARRELS    WITH    FRANKLIN      73 

being  in  the  street,  looked  up  and  saw  me,  called 
out  to  me  in  a  loud  voice  and  angry  tone  to 
mind  my  business,  adding  some  reproachful 
words,  that  nettled  me  the  more  for  their  pub- 
licity, all  the  neighbors  who  were  looking  out  on 
the  same  occasion,  being  witnesses  to  how  I  was 
treated.  He  came  up  immediately  into  the 
printing-house,  continued  the  quarrel,  high 
words  passed  on  both  sides,  he  gave  me  the 
quarter's  warning.  I  told  him  his  wish  was  un- 
necessary, for  I  would  leave  him  that  instant; 
and  so  taking  my  hat,  walked  out  of  doors,  de- 
siring Meredith,  whom  I  saw  below,  to  take  care 
of  some  things  I  had  left  and  bring  them  to  my 
lodgings. 

Meredith  came  accordingly  in  the  evening, 
when  we  talked  my  affair  over.  He  had  conceived 
a  great  regard  for  me,  and  was  very  unwilling 
that  I  should  leave  the  house  while  he  remained 
in  it.  He  dissuaded  me  from  returning  to  my 
native  country,  which  I  began  to  think  of;  he 
reminded  me  that  Keimer  was  in  debt  for  all 
he  possessed;  that  his  creditors  began  to  be  un- 
easy; that  he  kept  his  shop  miserably,  sold  often 
without  profit  for  ready  money,  and  often 
trusted  without  keeping  accounts;  that  he  must 
therefore  fail,  which  would  make  a  vacancy  I 
might  profit  of.  I  objected  my  want  of  money. 
He  then  let  me  know  that  his  father  had  a  high 


74  MY   PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

opinion  of  me,  and,  from  some  discourse  that 
had  passed  between  them,  he  was  sure  would 
advance  money  to  set  me  up,  if  I  would  enter 
into  partnership  with  him. 

"My  time,"  says  he,  "will  be  out  with  Keimer 
in  the  spring;  by  that  time  we  may  have  our 
press  and  types  in  from  London.  I  am  sensible 
I  am  no  workman;  if  you  like,  your  skill  in  the 
business  shall  be  set  against  the  stock  I  furnish, 
and  we  will  share  the  profits  equally." 

The  proposal  was  agreeable,  and  I  consented; 
his  father  was  in  town  and  approved  it;  the  more 
as  he  saw  I  had  great  influence  with  his  son,  had 
prevailed  on  him  to  abstain  from  dram-drink- 
ing, and  he  hoped  might  break  him  of  that 
wretched  habit  entirely,  when  we  came  to  be  so 
closely  connected.  I  gave  an  inventory  to  the 
father,  who  carried  it  to  a  merchant;  the  things 
were  sent  for,  the  secret  was  to  be  kept  till  they 
should  arrive,  and  in  the  meantime  I  was  to  get 
work,  if  I  could,  at  the  other  printing-house. 

But  I  found  no  vacancy  there,  and  so  remained 
idle  a  few  days,  when  Keimer,  on  a  prospect  of 
being  employed  to  print  some  paper  money  in 
New  Jersey,  which  would  require  cuts  and 
various  types  that  I  only  could  supply,  and 
apprehending  Bradford  might  engage  me  and  get 
the  job  from  him,  sent  me  a  very  civil  message, 
that  old  friends  should  not  part  for  a  few  words, 


KEIMER    QUARRELS    WITH    FRANKLIN       75 

the  effect  of  sudden  passion,  and  wishing  me  to 
return.  Meredith  persuaded  me  to  comply,  as 
it  would  give  more  opportunity  for  his  improve- 
ment under  my  daily  instructions;  so  I  returned, 
and  we  went  on  more  smoothly  than  for  some 
time  before. 

The  New  Jersey  job  was  obtained,  I  contrived 
a  copper-plate  press  for  it,  the  first  that  had 
been  seen  in  the  country;  I  cut  several  ornaments 
and  checks  for  the  bills.  We  went  together  to 
Burlington,  where  I  executed  the  whole  to 
satisfaction;  and  he  received  so  large  a  sum  for 
the  work  as  to  be  enabled  thereby  to  keep  his 
head  much  longer  above  water. 

At  Burlington  I  made  an  acquaintance  with 
many  principal  people  of  the  province.  Several 
of  them  had  been  appointed  by  the  Assembly,  a 
committee  to  attend  the  press,  and  take  care  that 
no  more  bills  were  printed  than  the  law  directed. 
They  were,  therefore,  by  turns,  constantly  with 
us,  and  generally  he  who  attended,  brought 
with  him  a  friend  or  two  for  company.  My  mind 
having  been  much  more  improved  by  reading 
than  Keimer's,  I  suppose  it  was  for  that  reason 
my  conversation  seemed  to  be  more  valued. 
They  had  me  to  their  homes,  introduced  me  to 
their  friends,  and  showed  me  much  civility; 
while  he,  tho'  master,  was  a  little  neglected.  In 
truth  he  was  an  odd  fish;  ignorant  of  common 


70  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

life,  fond  of  rudely  opposing  received  opinions, 
slovenly  to  extreme  dirtiness,  enthusiastic  in 
some  points  of  religion,  and  a  little  knavish 
withal. 


Chapter  Nine 
FRANKLIN  STARTS  IN  BUSINESS 

WE  CONTINUED  there  near  three 
months;  and  by  that  time  I  could 
reckon  among  my  acquired  friends, 
Judge  Allen,  Samuel  Bustill,  the 
secretary  of  the  Province,  Isaac  Pearson,  Joseph 
Cooper,  and  several  of  the  Smiths,  members  of 
the  Assembly,  and  Isaac  Decow,  the  surveyor- 
general.  The  latter  was  a  shrewd,  sagacious  old 
man,  who  told  me  that  he  began  for  himself 
when  young  by  wheeling  clay  for  the  brick- 
makers,  learned  to  write  after  he  was  of  age, 
carried  the  chain  for  surveyors,  who  taught  him 
surveying,  and  he  had  now  by  his  industry, 
acquired  a  good  estate;  and  says  he,  "I  can  see 
that  you  will  soon  work  this  man  out  of  his  busi- 
ness, and  make  a  fortune  in  it  at  Philadelphia." 
He  had  not  then  the  least  intimation  of  my 
intention  to  set  up  there  or  anywhere.  These 
friends  were  afterwards  of  great  use  to  me,  as  I 
occasionally  was  to  some  of  them.  They  all  con- 
tinued their  regard  for  me  as  long  as  they  lived. 
Before  I  enter  upon  my  public  appearance  in 
business,  it  may  be  well  to  let  you  know  the 
then  state  of  my  mind  with  regard  tojmy  prin- 
ciples and  morals,  that  you  may  see  how  far 
those  influenced  the  future  events  of  my  life. 

77 


78  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

My  parents  had  early  given  me  religious  im- 
pressions, and  brought  me  through  my  child- 
hood piously  in  the  dissenting  way.  But  I  was 
scarce  fifteen,  when,  after  doubting  by  turns 
several  points,  as  I  found  them  disputed  in  the 
different  books  I  read,  I  began  to  doubt  of 
revelation  itself.  Some  books  against  Deism  fell 
into  my  hands;  they  were  said  to  be  the  sub- 
stance of  sermons  preached  at  Boyle's  lectures. 
It  happened  that  they  wrought  an  effect  on  me 
quite  contrary  to  what  was  intended  by  them; 
for  the  arguments  of  the  Deists,  which  were 
quoted  to  be  refuted,  appeared  to  me  much 
stronger  than  refutations;  in  short,  I  soon  be- 
came a  Deist.  My  arguments  perverted  some 
others,  particularly  Collins  and  Ralph;  but  each 
of  them  having  afterwards  wronged  me  greatly 
without  the  least  compunction,  and  recollecting 
Keith's  conduct  towards  me  (who  was  another 
freethinker),  and  my  own  towards  Vernon  and 
Miss  Read,  which  at  times  gave  me  great  trouble, 
I  began  to  suspect  that  this  doctrine  tho'  it 
might  be  true,  was  not  very  useful.  My  London 
pamphlet,  which  had  for  its  motto  these  lines 
of  Dryden: 

Whatever  is,  is  right.  Though  purblind  man 
Sees  but  part  of  the  chain,  the  nearest  link; 
His  eyes  not  carrying  to  the  equal  beam, 
That  poises  all  above; 


FRANKLIN    STARTS    IN    BUSINESS  79 

and  from  the  attributes  of  God,  his  infinite 
wisdom,  goodness  and  power  concluded  that 
nothing  could  possibly  be  wrong  in  the  world, 
and  that  vice  and  virtue  were  empty  distinc- 
tions, no  such  things  existing,  appeared  now 
not  so  clever  a  performance  as  I  once  thought 
it;  and  I  doubted  whether  some  error  had  not 
insinuated  itself  unperceived  into  my  argument, 
so  as  to  infect  all  that  followed,  as  is  common  in 
metaphysical  reasonings. 

I  grew  convinced  that  truth,  sincerity  and 
integrity  in  dealings  between  man  and  man 
were  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  felicity 
of  life;  and  I  formed  written  resolutions,  which 
still  remain  in  my  journal  book,  to  practice 
them  ever  while  I  lived.  Revelation  had  indeed 
no  weight  with  me,  as  such;  but  I  entertained  an 
opinion  that  though  certain  actions  might  not 
be  bad  because  they  were  forbidden  by  it,  or 
good  because  it  commanded  them,  yet  probably 
those  actions  might  be  forbidden  because  they 
were  bad  for  us,  in  their  own  natures,  all  the 
circumstances  of  things  being  considered.  And 
this  persuasion,  with  the  kind  hand  of  Provi- 
dence, or  some  guardian  angel,  or  accidental 
favorable  circumstances  and  situations,  or  all 
together,  preserved  me,  thro'  this  dangerous 
time  of  youth,  and  the  hazardous  situations 
I  was  sometimes  in  among  strangers,  remote 


8O  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

from  the  eye  and  advice  of  my  father,  without 
any  willful  gross  immorality  or  injustice  that 
might  have  been  expected  from  my  want  of  re- 
ligion. I  say  willful,  because  the  instances  I  have 
mentioned  had  something  of  necessity  in  them, 
from  my  youth,  inexperience,  and  the  knavery 
of  others.  I  had  therefore  a  tolerable  character 
to  begin  the  world  with;  I  valued  it  properly 
and  determined  to  preserve  it. 

We  had  not  long  returned  to  Philadelphia 
before  the  new  types  arrived  from  London.  We 
settled  with  Keimer  and  left  him  by  consent 
before  he  heard  of  it.  We  found  a  house  to  hire 
near  the  market,  and  took  it.  To  lessen  the  rent, 
which  was  then  about  twenty-four  pounds  a 
year,  tho'  I  have  since  known  it  to  rent  for 
seventy,  we  took  in  Thomas  Godfrey,  a  glazier, 
and  his  family,  who  were  to  pay  a  considerable 
part  of  it,  and  we  to  board  with  them.  We  had 
scarce  opened  our  letters,  and  put  our  press  in 
order,  before  George  House,  an  acquaintance 
of  mine,  brought  a  countryman  to  us,  whom  he 
had  met  in  the  street  inquiring  for  a  printer.  All 
our  cash  was  now  expended  in  the  variety  of 
particulars  we  had  been  obliged  to  procure,  and 
this  countryman's  five  shillings,  being  our  first 
fruits,  and  coming  so  seasonably,  gave  me  more 
pleasure  than  any  crown  I  have  since  earned; 


FRANKLIN    STARTS    IN    BUSINESS  8l 

and  the  gratitude  I  felt  toward  House  has  made 
me  often  more  ready  than  perhaps  I  should 
otherwise  have  been  to  assist  young  beginners. 

There  are  croakers  in  every  country,  always 
boding  its  ruin.  Such  a  one  then  lived  in  Phila- 
delphia; a  person  of  note,  an  elderly  man  with  a 
wise  look  and  a  very  grave  manner  of  speaking; 
his  name  was  Samuel  Mickle.  This  gentleman, 
a  stranger  to  me,  stopt  me  one  day  at  my  door, 
and  asked  me  if  I  was  the  young  man  who  had 
lately  opened  a  new  printing-house.  Being  an- 
swered in  the  affirmative,  he  said  he  was  sorry 
for  me,  because  it  was  an  expensive  undertak- 
ing, and  the  expense  would  be  lost;  for  Phila- 
delphia was  a  sinking  place,  the  people  already 
half  bankrupt  or  near  being  so;  all  appearances 
to  the  contrary,  such  as  new  buildings  and  the 
rise  of  rents,  being  to  his  certain  knowledge 
fallacious,  for  they  were,  in  fact,  among  the 
things  that  would  soon  ruin  us.  And  he  gave  me 
such  a  detail  of  misfortunes  now  existing,  or 
that  were  soon  to  exist,  that  he  left  me  half 
melancholy. 

Had  I  known  him  before  I  engaged  in  this 
business,  probably  I  never  should  have  done  it. 
This  man  continued  to  live  in  this  decaying 
place,  and  to  declaim  the  same  strain,  refusing 
for  many  years  to  buy  a  house  there,  because 


82  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

all  was  going  to  destruction;  and  at  last  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  him  give  five  times  as 
much  for  one  as  he  might  have  bought  it  for 
when  he  first  began  croaking. 


Chapter  Ten 
FRANKLIN  AND  THE  JUNTO 

I  SHOULD  have  mentioned  before,  that,  in 
the  autumn  of  the  preceding  year,  I  had 
formed  most  of  my  ingenious  acquaintances 
into  a  club  of  mutual  improvement,  which 
we  called  the  Junto;  we  met  on  Friday  evenings. 
The  rules  that  I  drew  up  required  that  every 
member,  in  his  turn,  should  produce  one  or  more 
queries  on  any  point  of  Morals,  Politics,  or 
Natural  Philosophy,  to  be  discussed  by  the  com- 
pany; and  once  in  three  months  produce  and 
read  an  essay  of  his  own  writing,  on  any  subject 
he  pleased.  Our  debates  were  to  be  under  the 
direction  of  a  president,  and  to  be  conducted  in 
the  sincere  spirit  of  inquiry  after  truth,  without 
fondness  for  dispute,  or  desire  of  victory;  and  to 
prevent  warmth,  all  expressions  of  positiveness 
in  opinions,  or  direct  contradiction,  were  after 
some  time  made  contraband,  and  prohibited 
under  small  pecuniary  penalties. 

The  first  members  were  Joseph  Breintnal,  a 
copyer  of  deeds  for  the  scriveners,  a  good-nat- 
ured, friendly,  middle-aged  man,  a  great  lover 
of  poetry,  reading  all  he  could  meet  with,  and 
writing  some  that  was  tolerable;  very  ingenious 
in  many  little  nicknackeries,  and  of  sensible 
conversation. 

83 


84  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

Thomas  'Godfrey,  a  self-taught  mathema- 
tician, great  in  his  way,  and  afterward  inventor 
of  what  is  now  known  as  Hadley's  Quadrant. 
But  he  knew  little  out  of  his  way,  and  was  not 
a  pleasing  companion;  as  like  most  great  mathe- 
maticians I  have  met  with,  he  expected  univer- 
sal precision  in  everything  said,  or  was  forever 
denying  or  distinguishing  upon  trifles  to  the 
disturbances  of  all  conversation.  He  soon  left  us. 

Nicholas  Scull,  a  surveyor,  afterward  survey- 
or-general, who  loved  books,  and  sometimes 
made  a  few  verses. 

William  Parsons,  bred  as  a  shoemaker,  but, 
loving  reading,  had  acquired  such  a  considerable 
share  of  mathematics,  which  he  first  studied 
with  a  view  to  astrology,  that  he  afterwards 
taught  at  it.  He  also  became  sureveyor-general. 

William  Maugridge,  a  joiner,  almost  exquisite 
mechanic,  and  a  solid,  sensible  man. 

Hugh  Meredith,  Stephen  Potts,  and  George 
Webb  I  have  characterized  before. 

Robert  Grace,  a  young  gentleman  of  some 
fortune,  generous,  lively,  and  witty;  a  lover  of 
punning  and  of  his  friends. 

And  William  Coleman,  then  a  merchant's 
clerk,  about  my  age,  who  had  the  coolest,  clear- 
est head,  the  best  heart  and  the  exactest  morals 
of  almost  any  man  I  ever  met  with.  He  became 
afterwards  a  merchant  of  great  note,  and  one  of 


FRANKLIN    AND    THE    JUNTO  85 

our  provincial  judges.  ^Our  friendship  continued 
without  interruption  to  his  death,  upward  of 
forty  years;  and  the  club  continued  almost  as 
long,  and  was  the  best  school  of  philosophy, 
morality,  and  politics  that  then  existed  in  the 
province;  for  our  queries,  which  were  read  the 
week  preceding  their  discussion,  put  us  upon 
reading  with  attention  upon  the  several  subjects, 
that  we  might  speak  more  to  the  purpose;  and 
here,  too,  we  acquired  better  habits  of  conver- 
sation, everything  being  studied  in  our  rules 
which  might  prevent  our  disgusting  each  other. 
From  hence  the  long  continuance  of  the  club, 
which  I  shall  have  frequent  occasion  to  speak 
of  hereafter. 

But  my  giving  this  account  of  it  here  is  to 
show  something  of  the  interest  I  had,  every  one 
of  these  exerting  themselves  in  recommending 
business  to  us.  Breintnal  particularly  procured 
us  from  the  Quakers  the  printing  of  forty  sheets 
of  their  history,  the  rest  being  to  be  done  by 
Keimer;  and  upon  this  we  worked  exceedingly 
hard,  for  the  price  was  low.  I  composed  of  it  a 
sheet  a  day,  and  Meredith  worked  it  off  at  press. 
It  was  after  eleven  at  night,  and  sometimes  later, 
before  I  had  finished  my  distribution  for  the 
next  day's  work,  for  the  little  jobs  sent  in  by  our 
friends  now  and  then  put  us  back.  But  so  de- 
termined I  was  to  continue  doing  a  sheet  a  day 


86  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

of  the  folio  that  one  night  when  having  imposed 
my  forms,  I  thought  my  day's  work  over,  one 
of  them  by  accident  was  broken  and  two  pages 
reduced  to  pi,  I  immediately  distributed  and 
composed  it  over  again  before  I  went  to  bed; 
and  this  industry,  visible  to  our  neighbors, 
began  to  give  us  character  and  credit;  particu- 
larly, I  was  told,  that  mention  being  made  of 
the  new  printing-house  at  the  Merchants' 
Every-night  club,  the  general  opinion  was  that 
it  must  fail,  there  being  already  two  printers  in 
the  place,  Keimer  and  Bradford;  but  Dr.  Baird 
(whom  I  saw  many  years  after  at  his  native 
place,  St.  Andrew's  in  Scotland)  gave  a  contrary 
opinion:  "For  the  industry  of  that  Franklin," 
says  he,  "is  superior  to  anything  I  ever  saw  of 
the  kind.  I  see  him  still  at  work  when  I  go  home 
from  the  club,  and  he  is  at  work  again  before  his 
neighbors  are  out  of  bed."  This  struck  the  rest, 
and  we  soon  after  had  offers  from  one  of  them 
to  supply  us  with  stationery;  but  as  yet  we  did 
not  choose  to  engage  in  shop  business. 

I  mention  this  industry  more  particularly  and 
the  more  freely,  tho'  it  seems  to  be  talking 
in  my  own  praise,  that  those  of  my  posterity 
who  shall  read  it  may  know  the  use  of  that 
virtue,  when  they  see  its  effects  in  my  favour 
throughout  this  relation. 


FRANKLIN    AND   THE    JUNTO  87 

George  Webb,  who  had  found  a  female  friend 
that  lent  him  wherewith  to  purchase  his  time 
of  Keimer,  now  came  to  offer  himself  as  journey- 
man to  us.  We  could  not  then  employ  him;  but 
I  foolishly  let  him  know  as  a  secret  that  I  soon 
intended  to  begin  a  newspaper,  and  might  then 
have  work  for  him.  My  hopes  of  success,  as  I 
told  him,  were  founded  on  this,  that  the  then 
only  newspaper,  printed  by  Bradford,  was  a 
paltry  thing,  wretchedly  managed,  no  way 
entertaining  and  yet  was  profitable  to  him;  I 
therefore  thought  a  good  paper  would  scarcely 
fail  of  good  encouragement.  I  requested  Webb 
not  to  mention  it;  but  he  told  it  to  Keimer,  who 
immediately  to  be  forehanded  with  me,  pub- 
lished proposals  for  printing  one  himself  on 
which  Webb  was  to  be  employed.  I  resented  this ; 
and,  to  counteract  them  as  I  could  not  begin  my 
paper,  I  wrote  several  pieces  of  entertainment 
for  Bradford's  paper,  under  the  title  of  Busy 
Body,  which  Breintnal  continued  some  time. 
By  this  means  the  attention  of  the  public  was 
fixed  on  that  paper,  and  Keimer's  proposals, 
which  he  burlesqued  and  ridiculed  were  disre- 
garded. He  began  his  paper  however,  and  after 
carrying  it  on  three-quarters  of  a  year,  with  at 
most  only  ninety  subscribers,  he  offered  it  to 
me  for  a  trifle;  and  I  having  been  ready  for  some 
time  to  go  on  with  it,  took  it  in  hand  directly; 


88  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

and  it  proved  in  a  tew  years  extremely  profitable 
to  me. 

I  perceive  that  I  am  apt  to  speak  in  the  sing- 
ular number,  though  our  partnership  still  con- 
tinued; the  reason  may  be  that,  in  fact,  the 
whole  management  of  the  business  lay  upon  me. 
Meredith  was  no  compositor,  a  poor  pressman, 
and  seldom  sober.  My  friends  lamented  my 
connection  with  him,  but  I  was  to  make  the  best 
of  it. 

Our  first  papers  made  quite  a  different  appear- 
ance from  any  before  in  the  province;  a  better 
type,  and  better  printed;  but  some  spirited  re- 
marks in  my  writing,  on  the  dispute  then  going 
on  between  Governor  Burnet  and  the  Massa- 
chusetts Assembly,  struck  the  principal  people, 
occasioned  the  paper  and  the  manager  of  it  to 
be  much  talked  of,  and  in  a  few  weeks  brought 
them  all  to  be  our  subscribers. 

Their  example  was  followed  by  many,  and  our 
number  went  on  growing  continually.  This  was 
one  of  the  first  good  effects  of  my  having  learned 
a  little  to  scribble;  another  was,  that  the  leading 
men,  seeing  a  newspaper  now  in  the  hands  of 
one  who  could  also  handle  a  pen,  thought  it 
convenient  to  oblige  and  encourage  me. 

Bradford  still  printed  the  votes,  and  laws,  and 
other  public  business.  He  had  printed  an  address 
of  the  House  to  the  governor,  in  a  coarse,  blun- 


FRANKLIN    AND   THE   JUNTO  89 

dering  manner;  we  re-printed  it  elegantly  and 
correctly,  and  sent  one  to  every  member.  They 
were  sensible  of  the  difference;  it  strengthened 
the  hands  of  our  friends  in  the  House,  and  they 
voted  us  their  printers  for  the  year  ensuing. 

Among  my  friends  in  the  House  I  must  not 
forget  Mr.  Hamilton,  before  mentioned,  who 
was  then  returned  from  England  and  had  a  seat 
in  it.  He  interested  himself  for  me  strongly  in 
that  instance,  as  he  did  in  many  others  after- 
ward, continuing  his  patronage  till  his  death. 

Mr.  Vernon  about  that  time,  put  me  in  mind 
of  the  debt  I  owed  him,  but  did  not  press  me. 
I  wrote  him  an  ingenious  letter  of  acknowledg- 
ment, craved  his  forbearance  a  little  longer, 
which  he  allowed  me,  and  as  soon  as  possible 
I  paid  the  principal  with  interest,  and  many 
thanks;  so  that  erratum  was  in  some  degree 
corrected. 

But  now  another  difficulty  came  upon  me 
which  I  had  never  the  least  reason  to  expect. 
Mr.  Meredith's  father,  who  was  to  have  paid 
for  our  printing-house,  according  to  the  expec- 
tations given  me,  was  able  to  advance  only  one 
hundred  pounds  currency,  which  had  been  paid; 
and  a  hundred  more  was  due  to  the  merchant, 
who  grew  impatient  and  su'd  us  all.  We  gave 
bail,  but  saw  that,  if  the  money  could  not  be 
raised  in  time,  the  suit  must  soon  come  to  a 


90  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

judgment  and  execution,  and  our  hopeful  pros- 
pects must,  with  us,  be  ruined,  as  the  press  and 
letters  must  be  sold  for  payment,  perhaps  at 
half  price. 

In  this  distress  two  true  friends,  whose  kind- 
ness I  have  never  forgotten,  nor  ever  will  forget 
while  I  can  remember  anything,  came  to  me 
separately,  unknown  to  each  other,  and  without 
any  application  from  me,  offering  each  of  them 
to  advance  me  all  the  money  necessary  to  enable 
me  to  take  the  whole  business  upon  myself,  if 
that  would  be  practicable;  but  they  did  not  like 
my  continuing  the  partnership  with  Meredith, 
who,  as  they  said,  was  often  seen  drunk  in  the 
streets,  and  playing  at  low  games  in  ale  houses, 
much  to  our  discredit.  These  two  friends  were 
William  Coleman  and  Robert  Grace.  I  told 
them  I  could  not  propose  a  separation  while  any 
prospect  remained  for  the  Merediths  fulfilling 
their  part  of  our  agreement,  because  I  thought 
myself  under  great  obligations  to  them  for  what 
they  had  done,  and  would  do  if  they  could;  but, 
if  they  finally  failed  in  their  performance,  and 
our  partnership  should  be  dissolved,  I  should 
then  think  myself  at  liberty  to  accept  the 
assistance  of  my  friends. 

Thus  the  matter  rested  for  some  time,  when 
I  said  to  my  partner,  "Perhaps  your  father  is 
dissatisfied  at  the  part  you  have  undertaken  in 


FRANKLIN    AND    THE    JUNTO  9! 

this  affair  of  ours,  and  is  unwilling  to  advance 
for  you  and  me  what  he  would  for  you  alone. 
If  that  is  the  case,  let  me  know,  and  I  will  resign 
the  whole  to  you,  and  go  about  my  business." 

"No,"  said  he,  "my  father  has  really  been 
disappointed,  and  is  really  unable;  and  I  am  un- 
willing to  distress  him  farther.  I  see  this  is  a 
business  I  am  not  fit  for.  I  was  bred  a  farmer, 
and  it  was  folly  in  me  to  come  to  town,  and  put 
myself,  at  thirty  years  of  age,  an  apprentice  to 
learn  a  new  trade.  Many  of  our  Welsh  people 
are  going  to  settle  in  North  Carolina,  where 
land  is  cheap.  I  am  inclined  to  go  with  them, 
and  follow  my  old  employment.  You  may  find 
friends  to  assist  you.  If  you  will  take  the  debts 
of  the  company  upon  you;  return  to  my  father 
the  one  hundred  pounds  he  has  advanced,  and 
give  me  thirty  pounds  and  a  new  saddle,  I  will 
relinquish  the  partnership,  and  leave  the  whole 
in  your  hands." 

I  agreed  to  this  proposal;  it  was  drawn  up  in 
writing,  signed  and  sealed  immediately.  I  gave 
him  what  he  demanded,  and  he  went  soon  after 
to  Carolina,  from  whence  he  sent  me  next  year 
two  long  letters,  containing  the  best  account 
that  had  been  given  of  that  country,  the  climate, 
the  soil,  husbandry,  etc.,  for  in  those  matters  he 
was  very  judicious.  I  printed  them  in  the  papers, 
and  they  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  public. 


fflaper  Eleven 
A  PRINTER  TOO  POOR  TO  MARRY 

AS  SOON  as  he  was  gone,  I  recurred  to 

A\       my  friends;  and  because  I  would  not 

A\\    g*ve  an  unkind  preference  to  either,  I 

•^  "*~^"  took  half  of  what  each  had  offered  and 

I  wanted  of  one,  and  half  of  the  other;  paid  off 

the  company's  debts,  and  went  on  with  the 

business  in  my  own  name,  advertising  that  the 

partnership  was  dissolved.    I  think  this  was  in 

or  about  the  year  1729. 

About  this  time  there  was  a  cry  among  the 
people  for  more  paper  money,  only  fifteen  thous- 
and pounds  being  extant  in  the  province,  and 
that  soon  to  be  sunk.  The  wealthy  inhabitants 
opposed  any  addition,  being  against  all  paper 
currency,  from  an  apprehension  that  it  would 
depreciate,  as  it  had  done  in  New  England,  to 
the  prejudice  of  all  creditors. 

We  had  discussed  this  point  in  our  Junto, 
where  I  was  on  the  side  of  an  addition,  being  per- 
suaded that  the  first  small  sum  struck  in  1723 
had  done  much  good  by  increasing  trade,  em- 
ployment, and  number  of  inhabitants  in  the 
province,  since  I  now  saw  all  the  old  houses  in- 
habited, and  many  new  ones  building;  whereas 
I  remembered  well,  that  when  I  first  walked 

92 


A    PRINTER    TOO    POOR    TO    MARRY  93 

about  the  streets  of  Philadelphia,  eating  my 
roll,  I  saw  most  of  the  houses  in  Walnut  street, 
between  Second  and  Front  streets,  with  bills  on 
their  doors,  "To  be  let;"  and  many  likewise  on 
Chestnut  street  and  other  streets,  which  made 
me  then  think  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  were 
deserting  it  one  after  another. 

Our  debates  possessed  me  so  fully  of  the  sub- 
ject, that  I  wrote  and  printed  an  anonymous 
pamphlet  on  it,  entitled  "The  Nature  and  Ne- 
cessity of  a  Paper  Currency." 

It  was  well  received  by  the  common  people 
in  general;  but  the  rich  men  disliked  it  because 
it  increased  and  strengthened  the  clamor  for 
more  money,  and  they  happening  to  have  no 
writers  among  them  that  were  able  to  answer  it, 
their  opposition  slackened,  and  the  point  was 
carried  by  a  majority  in  the  House.  My  friends 
there,  who  conceived  I  had  been  of  some  service, 
thought  fit  to  reward  me  by  employing  me  in 
printing  the  money;  a  very  profitable  job  and  a 
great  help  to  me.  This  was  another  advantage 
gained  by  my  being  able  to  write. 

The  utility  of  this  currency  became  by  time 
and  experience  so  evident  as  never  afterwards 
to  be  much  disputed;  so  that  it  grew  soon  to  be 
fifty-five  thousand  pounds,  and  in  1739  to  eighty 
thousand  pounds,  since  which  it  arose  during 
war  to  upwards  of  three  hundred  and  fifty 


94  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

thousand  pounds,  trade,  building,  and  inhabi- 
tants, all  the  while  increasing,  tho'  I  now  think 
there  are  limits  beyond  which  the  quantity  may 
be  hurtful.  I  soon  after  obtained  thro'  my  friend 
Hamilton,  the  printing  of  the  New  Castle  paper 
money,  another  profitable  job  as  I  then  thought 
it;  small  things  appearing  great  to  those  in  small 
circumstances;  and  these  to  me  were  really 
great  advantages  as  they  were  great  encourage- 
ments. He  procured  for  me,  also,  the  printing 
of  the  laws  and  votes  of  that  government 
which  continued  in  my  hands  as  long  as  I 
followed  the  business. 

I  now  opened  a  little  stationer's  shop.  I  had 
in  it  blanks  of  all  sorts,  the  correctest  that  ever 
appeared  among  us,  being  assisted  in  that  by 
my  friend  Breintnal.  I  had  also  paper,  parch- 
ment, chapmen's  books,  etc. 

One  Whitemarsh,  a  compositor  I  had  known 
in  London,  an  excellent  workman,  now  came  to 
me  and  worked  with  me  constantly  and  dili- 
gently; and  I  took  an  apprentice,  the  son  of 
Aquila  Rose. 

I  began  now  gradually  to  pay  off  the  debt  I 
was  under  for  the  printing-house.  In  order  to 
secure  my  credit  and  character  as  a  tradesman, 
I  took  care  not  only  to  be  in  reality  industrious 
and  frugal  but  to  avoid  all  appearances  to  the 
contrary.  I  drest  plainly;  I  was  seen  at  no  places 


A    PRINTER    TOO    POOR    TO    MARRY  95 

of  idle  diversion.  I  never  went  out  a-fishing  or 
shooting;  a  book  indeed  sometimes  debauched 
me  from  my  work,  but  that  was  seldom,  snug, 
and  gave  me  no  scandal.  To  show  that  I  was 
not  above  my  business,  I  sometimes  brought 
home  paper  I  purchased  at  the  stores  thro'  the 
streets  on  a  wheelbarrow.  Thus  being  esteemed 
an  industrious,  thriving  young  man,  and  paying 
duly  for  what  I  bought,  the  merchants  who 
imported  stationery  solicited  my  custom;  others 
proposed  supplying  me  with  books,  and  so  I 
went  on  swimmingly. 

In  the  meantime,  Keimer's  credit  and  busi- 
ness declining  daily,  he  was  at  last  forced  to  sell 
his  printing-house  to  satisfy  his  creditors.  He 
went  to  Barbadoes,  and  there  lived  some  years 
in  very  poor  circumstances. 

His  apprentice,  David  Harry,  whom  I  had 
instructed  while  I  worked  with  him,  set  up  in 
his  place  at  Philadelphia,  having  bought  his 
materials.  I  was  at  first  apprehensive  of  a  pow- 
erful rival  in  Harry,  as  his  friends  were  very 
able,  and  had  a  good  deal  of  interest.  I  therefore 
proposed  a  partnership  to  him,  which  he,  for- 
tunately for  me,  rejected  with  scorn.  He  was 
very  proud,  dressed  like  a  gentleman,  lived  ex- 
pensively, took  much  diversion  and  pleasure 
abroad,  ran  in  debt,  and  neglected  his  business; 
upon  which,  all  business  left  him;  and  finding 


96  MY   PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

nothing  to  do,  he  followed  Keimer  to  Barbadoes, 
taking  the  printing-house  with  him.  There  this 
apprentice  employed  his  former  master  as  a 
journeyman;  they  quarreled  often;  Harry  went 
continually  behindhand,  and  at  length  was 
forced  to  sell  his  types  and  return  to  his  country 
work  in  Pennsylvania.  The  person  that  bought 
them  employed  Keimer  to  use  them,  but  in  a 
few  years  he  died. 

There  remained  now  no  competitor  with  me 
at  Philadelphia,  but  the  old  one,  Bradford,  who 
was  rich  and  easy,  did  a  little  printing  now  and 
then  by  straggling  hands,  but  was  not  very 
anxious  about  business.  However,  as  he  kept 
the  postoffice,  it  was  imagined  he  had  better  op- 
portunities of  obtaining  news;  his  paper  was 
thought  a  better  distributor  of  advertisements 
than  mine,  and  therefore  had  many  more, 
which  was  a  profitable  thing  to  him,  and  a  dis- 
advantage to  me;  for,  tho'  I  did  indeed  receive 
and  send  papers  by  post,  yet  the  public  opinion 
was  otherwise,  for  what  I  did  send  was  by  brib- 
ing the  riders,  who  took  them  privately,  Brad- 
ford being  unkind  enough  to  forbid  it,  which 
occasioned  some  resentment  on  my  part;  and 
I  thought  so  meanly  of  him  for  it  that,  when 
I  afterward  came  into  his  situation,  I  took  care 
never  to  imitate  it. 


A    PRINTER   TOO    POOR   TO    MARRY  97 

I  had  hitherto  continued  to  board  with  God- 
frey, who  lived  in  part  of  my  house  with  his  wife 
and  children,  and  had  one  side  of  the  shop  for 
his  glazier's  business,  tho'  he  worked  little, 
being  always  absorbed  in  his  mathematics.  Mrs. 
Godfrey  projected  a  match  for  me  with  a  rela- 
tion's daughter,  took  opportunities  of  bringing 
us  often  together,  till  a  serious  courtship  on  my 
part  ensued,  the  girl  being  in  herself  very  de- 
serving. The  old  folks  encouraged  me  by  con- 
tinued invitations  to  supper  and  by  leaving  us 
together,  till  at  length  it  was  time  to  explain. 
Mrs.  Godfrey  managed  our  little  treaty.  I  let 
her  know  that  I  expected  as  much  money  with 
their  relation  as  would  pay  off  my  remaining 
debt  for  the  printing-house,  which  I  believe 
was  then  not  above  a  hundred  pounds.  She 
brought  me  word  they  had  no  such  sum  to  spare; 
I  said  they  might  mortgage  their  house  in  the 
loan  office.  The  answer  to  this,  after  some  days, 
was  that  they  did  not  approve  very  much  of 
the  match;  that,  on  inquiry  of  Bradford,  they 
had  been  informed  the  printing  business  was  not 
a  profitable  one;  the  types  would  soon  be  worn 
out,  and  more  wanted;  that  S.  Keimer  and  D. 
Harry  had  failed  one  after  another  and  I  should 
probably  soon  follow  them;  and,  therefore, 
I  was  forbidden  the  house  and  the  daughter 
was  shut  up. 


90  MY    PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

Whether  this  was  a  real  change  of  sentiment 
or  only  artifice  on  a  supposition  of  our  being 
engaged  in  affection  to  retract,  and  therefore 
that  we  should  steal  a  marriage,  which  would 
leave  them  at  liberty  to  give  or  withhold  what 
they  pleased,  I  know  not;  but  suspecting  the 
latter,  resented  it,  and  went  no  more.  Mrs.  God- 
frey brought  me  afterward  some  more  favorable 
accounts  of  their  disposition,  and  would  have 
drawn  me  on  again;  but  I  declared  absolutely 
my  resolution  to  have  nothing  more  to  do  with 
that  family.  This  was  resented  by  the  Godfreys; 
we  differed  and  they  removed,  leaving  me  the 
whole  house,  and  I  resolved  to  take  no  more 
inmates. 

But  this  affair  having  turned  my  thoughts  to 
marriage,  I  looked  round  me  and  made  over- 
tures of  acquaintance  in  other  places;  but  soon 
found  that,  the  business  of  a  printer  being 
generally  thought  a  poor  one,  I  was  not  to  expect 
money  with  a  wife,  unless  with  such  a  one  as  I 
should  not  otherwise  think  agreeable.  In  the 
meantime  that  hard-to-be-governed  passion  of 
youth  hurried  me  frequently  into  intrigues  with 
low  women  that  fell  in  my  way,  which  were  at- 
tended with  some  expense  and  great  inconven- 
ience, besides  a  continual  risk  to  my  health 
by  a  distemper,  which  of  all  things  I  dreaded, 
though  by  great  good  luck  I  escaped  it. 


A    PRINTER   TOO    POOR   TO   MARRY  99 

A  friendly  correspondence  as  neighbors  and 
old  acquaintances  had  continued  between  me 
and  Mrs.  Read's  family,  who  all  had  a  regard  for 
me  from  the  time  of  my  first  lodging  in  their 
house.  I  was  often  invited  there  and  consulted 
in  their  affairs,  wherein  I  sometimes  was  of 
service. 

I  pitied  poor  Miss  Read's  unfortunate  situa- 
tion, for  she  was  generally  dejected,  seldom 
cheerful,  and  avoided  company.  I  considered 
my  giddiness  and  inconstancy  when  in  London 
as  in  a  great  degree  the  cause  of  her  unhappiness, 
tho'  the  mother  was  good  enough  to  think  the 
fault  more  her  own  than  mine,  as  she  had  pre- 
vented our  marrying  before  I  went  thither,  and 
persuaded  the  other  match  during  my  absence. 

Our  mutual  affection  was  revived,  and  there 
were  no  great  objections  to  our  union.  The 
match  was  indeed  looked  upon  as  invalid,  a 
preceding  wife  being  said  to  be  living  in  Eng- 
land, but  this  could  not  easily  be  proved,  be- 
cause of  the  distance;  and  tho'  there  was  a  report 
of  his  death,  it  was  not  certain.  Then,  tho'  it 
should  be  true,  he  had  left  many  debts,  which 
his  successor  might  be  called  upon  to  pay. 

We  ventured,  however,  over  all  these  diffi- 
culties, and  I  took  her  to  wife,  September 


100  MY   PRINTING    EXPERIENCES 

None  of  the  inconveniences  happened  that 
we  had  apprehended;  she  proved  a  good  and 
faithful  helpmate  and  assisted  me  much  by  at- 
tending the  shop;  we  throve  together,  and  have 
ever  mutually  endeavored  to  make  each  other 
happy.  Thus  I  corrected  that  great  erratum  as 
well  as  I  could. 

About  this  time,  at  our  club  meeting,  not  in 
a  tavern,  but  in  a  little  room  of  Mr.  Grace's,  set 
apart  for  that  purpose,  a  proposition  was  made 
by  me  that,  since  our  books  were  often  referred 
to  in  our  disquisitions  upon  the  queries,  it  might 
be  convenient  to  us  to  have  them  all  together 
where  we  met,  that  upon  occasion  they  might 
be  consulted;  and  by  thus  clubbing  our  books  to 
a  common  library  we  should,  while  we  liked  to 
keep  them  together,  have  each  of  us  the  ad- 
vantage of  using  the  books  of  all  the  other  mem- 
bers, which  would  be  nearly  as  beneficial  as  if 
each  member  owned  the  whole  lot.  It  was  liked 
and  agreed  to,  and  we  filled  in  one  end  of  the 
room  with  such  books  as  we  could  best  spare. 
The  number  was  not  so  great  as  we  expected; 
and  tho'  they  had  been  of  great  use,  yet  some  in- 
convenience occurring  for  want  of  due  care  of 
them,  the  collection,  after  about  a  year,  was 
separated  and  each  took  his  books  home  again. 

And  now  I  set  on  foot  my  first  project  of  a 
public  nature,  that  for  a  subscription  library.  I 


A    PRINTER   TOO    POOR   TO    MARRY          IOI 

drew  up  the  proposals,  got  them  put  into  form 
by  our  great  scrivener,  Brockden,  and,  by  the 
help  of  my  friends  in  the  Junto,  procured  fifty 
subscribers  of  forty  shillings  each  to  begin  with, 
and  ten  shillings  a  year  for  fifty  years,  the  term 
our  company  was  to  continue.  We  afterwards 
obtained  a  charter,  the  company  being  increased 
to  one  hundred;  this  was  the  mother  of  all  the 
North  American  subscription  libraries,  now  so 
numerous.  It  is  become  a  great  thing  itself,  and 
commonly  increasing.  These  libraries  have  im- 
proved the  general  conversation  of  Americans, 
made  the  common  tradesmen  and  farmers  as 
intelligent  as  most  gentlemen  from  other  coun- 
tries, and  perhaps  have  contributed  in  some 
degree  to  the  stand  so  generally  made  throughout 
the  colonies  in  defense  of  their  privileges. 

MEM. — Thus  jar  was  written  by  Franklin  at  Twyjord, 
Hampshire,  England,  at  the  home  of  Bishop  Shipley,  and 
contains  several  little  family  anecdotes  of  no  importance  to 
others.  The  rest  of  his  biography  was  written  many  years 
later  in  compliance  with  advice  contained  in  letters,  and 
accordingly  intended  for  the  public.  The  affairs  of  the 
Revolution  occasioned  the  interruption. 


The  Way  To  Wealth 

Being  the  Preface  /oPooR  RICHARD 's  ALMANAC 
for  1758,  by  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 


WAY  TO  WEALTH  is  very  widely 
known  among  the  writings  of  Franklin. 
The  "way"  has  changed  little  in  the 
past  164  years;  hence,  it  will  interest 
readers  to  peruse  it  once  more.  The  preface  was 
written  at  a  period  of  heavy  taxes  and  poor 
business,  and  its  homely  wisdom  is  said  notably 
at  the  time  to  have  promoted  cheerfulness, 
thrift  and  economy — three  conditions  which 
all  patriots  are  seeking  to  promote.  Of  the  pro- 
verbial wisdom  of  the  Almanac,  and  of  this 
preface  in  particular,  Franklin,  in  his  Auto- 
biography, says: 

"Observing  that  it  (the  Almanac)  was  gener- 
ally read,  scarce  any  neighborhood  in  the  prov- 
ince being  without  it,  I  considered  it  as  a  proper 
vehicle  for  conveying  instruction  among  the 

103 


IO4  THE    WAY  TO    WEALTH 

common  people,  who  bought  scarcely  any  other 
books;  I  therefore  filled  all  the  little  spaces  that 
occur'd  between  the  remarkable  days  in  the 
calendar  with  proverbial  sentences,  chiefly  such 
as  inculcated  industry  and  frugality,  as  the 
means  of  procuring  wealth,  and  thereby  securing 
virtue;  it  being  more  difficult  for  a  man  in  want 
to  act  always  honestly,  as,  to  use  here  one  of 
those  proverbs,  it  is  hard  for  an  empty  sack  to 
stand  upright. 

"These  proverbs,  which  contained  the  wisdom 
of  many  ages  and  nations,  I  assembl'd  and 
form'd  into  a  connected  discourse  prefix'd  to 
the  Almanac  of  1758,  as  the  harangue  of  a  wise 
old  man  to  the  people  attending  an  auction. 
The  bringing  all  these  scattered  counsels  thus 
into  a  focus  enabled  them  to  make  greater  im- 
pression. The  piece,  being  universally  approved, 
was  copied  in  all  the  newspapers  of  the  Conti- 
nent; reprinted  in  Britain  on  a  broadside,  to  be 
stuck  up  in  houses;  two  translations  were  made 
of  it  in  French,  and  great  numbers  bought  by 
the  clergy  and  gentry,  to  distribute  gratis  among 
their  poor  parishioners  and  tenants.  In  Penn- 
sylvania, as  it  discouraged  useless  expense  in 
foreign  superfluities,  some  thought  it  had  its 
share  of  influence  in  producing  that  growing 
plenty  of  money  which  was  observable  for  sev- 
eral years  after  its  publication." 


THE    WAY   TO    WEALTH  105 

Courteous  Reader — I  have  read  that  nothing 
gives  an  author  so  great  pleasure  as  to  find  his 
works  respectfully  quoted  by  others.  Judge, 
then,  how  much  I  must  have  been  gratified  by 
an  incident  I  am  about  to  relate  to  you.  I 
stopped  my  horse  lately  where  a  great  number  of 
people  were  collected  at  an  auction  of  merchants' 
goods.  The  hour  of  the  sale  not  being  come,  they 
were  conversing  on  the  badness  of  the  times; 
and  one  of  the  company  called  to  a  plain,  clean 
old  man  with  white  locks:  "Pray,  Father  Abra- 
ham, what  think  you  of  the  times?  Will  not 
these  heavy  taxes  quite  ruin  the  country?  How 
shall  we  ever  be  able  to  pay  them  ?  What  would 
you  advise  us  to  do?"  Father  Abraham  stood  up 
and  replied:  "If  you  would  have  my  advice,  I 
will  give  it  you  in  short;  for  A  word  to  the  wise  is 
enough,  as  Poor  Richard  says."  They  joined  in 
desiring  him  to  speak  his  mind,  and  gathering 
round  him  he  proceeded  as  follows: 

"Friends,"  said  he,  "the  taxes  are  indeed 
very  heavy,  and  if  those  laid  on  by  the  govern- 
ment were  the  only  ones  we  had  to  pay,  we  might 
more  easily  discharge  them,  but  we  have  many 
others  and  much  more  grievous  to  some  of  us. 
We  are  taxed  twice  as  much  by  our  idleness, 
three  times  as  much  by  our  pride,  and  four 
times  as  much  by  our  folly,  and  from  these  taxes 
the  commissioners  cannot  ease  or  deliver  us  by 


IO6  THE    WAY   TO    WEALTH 

allowing  an  abatement.  However,  let  us  hearken 
to  good  advice  and  something  may  be  done  for 
us:  God  helps  them  that  help  themselves,  as  Poor 
Richard  says. 

"I.  It  would  be  thought  a  hard  government 
that  should  tax  its  people  one-tenth  part  of 
their  time,  to  be  employed  in  its  service,  but 
idleness  taxes  many  of  us  much  more:  sloth  by 
bringing  on  diseases,  absolutely  shortens  life. 
Sloth,  like  rust,  consumes  faster  than  labor  wears, 
while  the  used  key  is  always  bright,  as  Poor  Rich- 
ard says.  But  dost  thou  love  life,  then  do  not 
squander  time,  for  that  is  the  stuff  life  is  made  of, 
as  Poor  Richard  says.  How  much  more  than  is 
necessary  do  we  spend  in  sleep,  forgetting  that 
The  sleeping  fox  catches  no  poultry,  and  that 
There  will  be  sleeping  enough  in  the  grave. 

"If  time  be  of  all  things  the  most  precious,  wast- 
ing time  must  be,  as  Poor  Richard  says,  the 
greatest  prodigality,  since,  as  he  elsewhere  tells 
us,  Lost  time  is  never  found  again,  and  what  we 
call  time  enough  always  proves  little  enough.  Let 
us  then  up  and  be  doing,  and  doing  to  some 
purpose;  so  by  diligence  shall  we  do  more  with 
less  perplexity.  Sloth  makes  all  things  difficult, 
but  industry  all  things  easy;  and  He  that  riseth 
late  must  trot  all  day,  and  shall  scarce  overtake 
his  business  at  night;  while  Laziness  travels  so 
slowly  that  Poverty  soon  overtakes  him.  Drive 


THE    WAY   TO    WEALTH  IOJ 

thy  business,  let  not  that  drive  thee,  and  Early  to 
bed  and  early  to  rise,  makes  a  man  healthy, 
wealthy  and  wise,  as  Poor  Richard  says. 

"So  what  signifies  wishing  and  hoping  for 
better  times?  We  may  make  these  times  better 
if  we  bestir  ourselves.  Industry  need  not  wish, 
and  he  that  lives  upon  hopes  will  die  fasting.  There 
are  no  gains  without  pains ;  then  help  hands,  for  I 
have  no  lands;  or  if  I  have  they  are  smartly 
taxed.  He  that  hath  a  trade  hath  an  estate,  and  he 
that  hath  a  calling  hath  an  office  oj  profit  and  honor ^ 
as  Poor  Richard  says;  but  then  the  trade  must 
be  worked  at  and  the  calling  followed,  or  neither 
the  estate  nor  the  office  will  enable  us  to  pay  our 
taxes.  If  we  are  industrious  we  shall  never 
starve,  for  At  the  working  man's  house  hunger 
looks  in  but  dares  not  enter.  Nor  will  the  bailiff 
nor  the  constable  enter,  for  Industry  pays  debts, 
while  despair  increaseth  them.  What  though  you 
have  found  no  treasure,  nor  has  any  rich  relation 
left  you  a  legacy,  Diligence  is  the  mother  of  good 
lucky  and  God  gives  all  things  to  industry.  Then 
plough  deep  while  sluggards  sleep,  and  you  shall 
have  corn  to  sell  and  to  keep.  Work  while  it  is 
called  today,  for  you  know  not  how  much  you 
may  be  hindered  tomorrow.  One  today  is  worth 
two  tomorrows,  as  Poor  Richard  says;  and  further, 
Never  leave  that  till  tomorrow  which  you  can  do 
today.  If  you  were  a  servant  would  you  not  be 


IO8  THE    WAY   TO    WEALTH 

ashamed  that  a  good  master  should  catch  you 
idle?  Are  you  then  your  own  master?  Be  asham- 
ed to  catch  yourself  idle  when  there  is  so  much 
to  be  done  for  yourself,  your  family,  your  coun- 
try, and  your  king.  Handle  your  tools  without 
mittens;  remember  that  The  cat  in  gloves  catches 
no  mice,  as  Poor  Richard  says.  It  is  true  there  is 
much  to  be  done,  and  perhaps  you  are  weak- 
handed,  but  stick  to  it  steadily  and  you  will  see 
great  effects;  for  Constant  dropping  wears  away 
stones:  and  By  diligence  and  patience  the  mouse 
ate  in  two  the  cable;  and  Little  strokes  fell  great  oaks. 

"Methinks  I  hear  some  of  you  say,  'Must  a 
man  afford  himself  no  leisure  ?'  I  tell  thee,  my 
friend,  what  Poor  Richard  says:  Employ  thy 
time  well,  if  thou  meanest  to  gain  leisure;  and, 
since  thou  art  not  sure  of  a  minute,  throw  not 
away  an  hour.  Leisure  is  time  for  doing  some- 
thing useful;  this  leisure  the  diligent  man  will 
obtain,  but  the  lazy  man  never;  for  A  life  \of 
leisure  and  a  life  of  laziness  are  two  things.  Many, 
without  labor,  would  live  by  their  wits  only,  but 
they  break  for  want  of  stock;  whereas  industry 
gives  comfort  and  plenty  and  respect.  Fly  plea- 
sures and  they  will  follow  you.  The  diligent 
spinner  has  a  large  shift;  and  Now  I  have  a  sheep 
and  a  cow,  everybody  bids  me  good  morrow. 

"II.  But  with  our  industry  we  must  likewise 
be  steady,  settled,  and  careful  and  oversee  our 


THE  HOME  OF  THE   BISHOP  OF  ST.  ASAPH 

Here,  in  this  "sweet  retreat,"  Ben  Franklin  spent  some  of  the  happiest 
and  quietest  hours  of  his  eventful  life  with  "good  bishop"  Shipley, 
Mrs.  Shipley,  and  their  delightful  daughters,  all  of  whom  were  greatly 
attached  to  Franklin.  In  a  room  of  this  house  at  Twyford,  Hampshire, 
still  known  as  Franklin's  room,  Ben  wrote  his  great  Autobiography 


THE    WAY    TO    WEALTH  1 09 

own  affairs  with  our  own  eyes,  and  not  trust 
too  much  to  others;  for,  as  Poor  Richard  says: 

I  never  saw  an  oft-removed  tree, 

Nor  yet  an  oft-removed  family, 

That  throve  so  well  as  those  that  settled  be. 

"And  again,  Three  removes  are  as  bad  as  a 
fire;  and  again,  Keep  thy  shop  and  thy  shop  will 
keep  thee;  and  again,  If  you  would  have  your 
business  done,  go;  if  not,  send. 
"And  again: 

He  that  by  the  plow  would  thrive, 
Himself  must  either  hold  or  drive. 

"And  again,  The  eye  of  the  master  will  do  more 
work  than  both  his  hands;  and  again,  Want  of 
care  does  us  more  damage  than  want  of  knowledge; 
and  again,  Not  to  oversee  workmen  is  to  leave  them 
your  purse  open.  Trusting  too  much  to  others' 
care  is  the  ruin  of  many;  for,  In  the  affairs  of  this 
world  men  are  saved,  not  by  faith,  but  by  the  want 
of  it;  but  a  man's  own  care  is  profitable;  for,  If 
you  would  have  a  faithful  servant,  and  one  that 
you  like,  serve  yourself.  A  little  neglect  may  breed 
great  mischief;  for  want  of  a  nail  the  shoe  was 
lost;  for  want  of  a  shoe  the  horse  was  lost;  for  want 
of  a  horse  the  rider  was  lost,  being  overtaken  and 
slain  by  the  enemy,  all  for  want  of  a  little  care 
about  a  horse-shoe  nail. 

"III.    So  much  for  industry,  my  friends,  and 


IIO  THE    WAY   TO    WEALTH 

attention  to  one's  own  business;  but  to  these 
we  must  add  frugality,  if  we  would  make  our 
industry  more  certainly  successful.  A  man  may, 
if  he  knows  not  how  to  save  as  he  gets,  keep  his 
nose  all  his  life  to  the  grindstone  and  die  not 
worth  a  groat  at  last.  A  fat  kitchen  makes  a  lean 
will;  and 

Many  estates  are  spent  in  the  getting, 

Since  women  for  tea  forsook  spinning  and  knitting, 

And  men  for  punch  forsook  hewing  and  splitting. 

"If  you  would  be  wealthy ',  think  of  saving  as 
well  as  of  getting.  The  Indies  have  not  made  Spain 
rich,  because  her  outgoes  are  greater  than  her 
incomes. 

"Away  then  with  your  expensive  follies,  and 
you  will  not  then  have  so  much  cause  to  com- 
plain of  hard  times,  heavy  taxes,  and  chargeable 
families;  for 

Women  and  wine,  game  and  deceit, 
Make  the  wealth  small  and  the  want  great. 

"And  further,  What  maintains  one  vice  would 
bring  up  two  children.  You  may  think,  perhaps, 
that  a  little  tea,  or  a  little  punch  now  and  then, 
diet  a  little  more  costly,  clothes  a  little  finer,  and 
a  little  entertainment  now  and  then,  can  be  no 
great  matter;  but  remember,  Many  a  little  makes 
a  mickle.  Beware  of  little  expenses;  A  small  leak 
will  sink  a  great  ship,  as  Poor  Richard  says;  and 


THE    WAY   TO   WEALTH  III 

again,  Who  dainties  love,  shall  beggars  prove; 
and,  Fools  make  feasts,  and  wise  men  eat  them. 

"Here  you  are  all  got  together  at  this  sale  of 
fineries  and  knick-knacks.  You  call  them  goods; 
but  if  you  do  not  take  care  they  will  prove  evils 
to  some  of  you.  You  expect  they  will  be  sold 
cheap,  and  perhaps  they  may  for  less  than  they 
cost;  but  if  you  have  no  occasion  for  them  they 
must  be  dear  to  you.  Remember  what  Poor 
Richard  says:  Buy  what  thou  hast  no  need  of, 
and  ere  long  thou  shalt  sell  thy  necessaries.  And 
again,  At  a  great  pennyworth  pause  awhile.  He 
means,  that  perhaps  the  cheapness  is  apparent 
only,  and  not  real;  or  the  bargain,  by  straitening 
thee  in  business,  may  do  thee  more  harm  than 
good.  For  in  another  place  he  says,  Many  have 
been  ruined  by  buying  a  good  pennyworth.  Again, 
It  is  foolish  to  lay  out  money  in  a  purchase  of  re- 
pentance; and  yet  this  folly  is  practiced  every 
day  at  auctions  just  for  want  of  minding  the 
Almanac.  Many  a  one,  for  the  sake  of  finery 
on  the  back,  have  gone  with  a  hungry  belly 
and  half-starved  their  families.  Silks  and  satins, 
scarlets  and  velvets,  put  out  the  kitchen  fire,  as 
Poor  Richard  says. 

"These  are  not  the  necessaries  of  life;  they 
can  scarcely  be  called  conveniences;  and  yet, 
only  because  they  look  pretty,  how  many  want 
to  have  them !  By  these  and  other  extravagances 


112  THE    WAY    TO    WEALTH 

the  genteel  are  reduced  to  poverty  and  forced  to 
borrow  of  those  whom  they  formerly  despised, 
but  who,  through  industry  and  frugality  have 
maintained  their  standing;  in  which  case  it 
appears  plainly  that  A  ploughman  on  his  legs 
is  higher  than  a  gentleman  on  his  knees,  as  Poor 
Richard  says.  Perhaps  they  have  had  a  small 
estate  left  them,  which  they  knew  not  the  get- 
ting of;  they  think,  It  is  day,  and  will  never  be 
night;  that  a  little  to  be  spent  out  of  so  much  is 
not  worth  minding;  but  Always  taking  out  of  the 
meal-tub,  and  never  putting  in,  soon  comes  to  the 
bottom,  as  Poor  Richard  says,  and  then,  When 
the  well  is  dry,  they  know  the  worth  of  water.  But 
this  they  might  have  known  before,  if  they  had 
taken  his  advice.  If  you  would  know  the  value  of 
money,  go  and  try  to  borrow  some;  for  he  that  goes 
a  borrowing  goes  a  sorrowing,  as  Poor  Richard 
says;  and  indeed  so  does  he  that  lends  to  such 
people,  when  he  goes  to  get  it  again. 
"Poor  Dick  further  advises  and  says, 

Fond  pride  is  sure  a  very  curse; 

Ere  fancy  you  consult,  consult  your  purse. 

"And  again,  Pride  is  as  loud  a  beggar  as  Want, 
and  a  great  deal  more  saucy.  When  you  have 
bought  one  fine  thing  you  must  buy  ten  more, 
that  your  appearance  may  be  all  of  a  piece; 
but  Poor  Dick  says,  //  is  easier  to  suppress  the 
first  desire  than  to  satisfy  all  that  follow  it.  And 


THE    WAY   TO    WEALTH 

it  is  as  truly  folly  for  the  poor  to  ape  the  rich, 
as  for  the  frog  to  swell  in  order  to  equal  the  ox. 

Vessels  large  may  venture  more, 

But  little  boats  should  keep  near  shore. 

"It  is,  however,  a  folly  soon  punished;  for, 
as  Poor  Richard  says,  Pride  that  dines  on  vanity 
sups  on  contempt.  Pride  that  breakfasts  with 
Plenty,  dined  with  Poverty ,  and  supped  with  In- 
famy. And  after  all,  of  what  use  is  this  pride  of 
appearance,  for  which  so  much  is  risked,  so 
much  is  suffered?  It  cannot  promote  health,  nor 
ease  pain;  it  makes  no  increase  of  merit  in  the 
person;  it  creates  envy;  it  hastens  misfortune. 

"But  what  madness  must  it  be  to  run  in  debt 
for  these  superfluities?  We  are  offered  by  the 
terms  of  the  sale  six  months'  credit;  and  that, 
perhaps,  has  induced  some  of  us  to  attend  it, 
because  we  cannot  spare  the  ready  money,  and 
hope  now  to  be  fine  without  it.  But  ah!  think 
what  you  do  when  you  run  in  debt;  you  give 
to  another  power  over  your  liberty.  If  you  can- 
not pay  at  the  time,  you  will  be  ashamed  to  see 
your  creditor;  you  will  be  in  fear  when  you  speak 
to  him;  you  will  make  poor,  pitiful,  sneaking 
excuses,  and  by  degrees  come  to  lose  your  ver- 
acity, and  sink  into  base,  downright  lying;  for 
The  second  vice  is  lying,  the  first  is  running  in 
debt,  as  Poor  Richard  says;  and  again,  to  the 


1 14  THE    WAY   TO    WEALTH 

same  purpose,  Lying  rides  upon  Debt's  back; 
whereas  a  free-born  man  ought  not  to  be 
ashamed  nor  afraid  to  see  or  speak  to  any 
man  living.  But  poverty  often  deprives  a  man 
of  all  spirit  and  virtue.  //  is  hard  for  an  empty 
bag  to  stand  upright. 

"What  would  you  think  of  that  prince  or  of 
that  government  who  should  issue  an  edict  for- 
bidding you  to  dress  like  a  gentleman  or  gentle- 
woman, on  pain  of  imprisonment  or  servitude? 
Would  you  not  say  that  you  were  free,  have  a 
right  to  dress  as  you  please,  and  that  such  an 
edict  would  be  a  breach  of  your  privileges,  and 
such  a  government  tyrannical?  And  yet  you 
are  about  to  put  yourself  under  such  tyranny 
when  you  run  in  debt  for  such  dress!  Your  cred- 
itor has  authority,  at  his  pleasure,  to  deprive 
you  of  your  liberty  by  confining  you  in  gaol 
till  you  shall  be  able  to  pay  him.  When  you  have 
got  your  bargain  you  may,  perhaps,  think  little 
of  payment,  but  as  Poor  Richard  says,  Creditors 
have  better  memories  than  debtors;  creditors  are  a 
superstitious  sect,  great  observers  of  set  days  and 
times.  The  day  comes  round  before  you  are 
aware,  and  the  demand  is  made  before  you  are 
prepared  to  satisfy  it;  or,  if  you  bear  your  debt 
in  mind,  the  terms,  which  at  first  seemed  so  long, 
will,  as  it  lessens,  appear  extremely  short.  Time 
will  seem  to  have  added  wings  to  his  heels  as 


THE    WAY   TO    WEALTH 


well  as  his  shoulders.  Those  have  a  short  Lent 
who  owe  money  to  be  paid  at  Easter.  At  present, 
perhaps,  you  may  think  yourself  in  thriving 
circumstances,  and  that  you  can  bear  a  little 
extravagance  without  injury,  but  — 

For  age  and  want  save  while  you  may; 
No  morning  sun  lasts  a  whole  day. 

"Gain  may  be  temporary  and  uncertain,  but 
ever,  while  you  live,  expense  is  constant  and 
certain;  and  //  is  easier  to  build  two  chimneys 
than  to  keep  one  in  fuel  y  .as.  Poor  Richard  says; 
so,  Rather  go  to  bed  supperless  than  rise  in  debt. 

Get  what  you  can,  and  what  you  get  hold; 

'Tis  the  stone  that  will  turn  all  your  lead  into  gold. 

"And  when  you  have  got  the  Philosopher's 
stone,  sure  you  will  no  longer  complain  of  bad 
times  or  the  difficulty  of  paying  taxes. 

"IV.  This  doctrine,  my  friends,  is  reason  and 
wisdom;  but,  after  all,  do  not  depend  too  much 
upon  your  own  industry  and  frugality  and  pru- 
dence, though  excellent  things,  for  they  may 
all  be  blasted,  without  the  blessing  of  Heaven; 
therefore  ask  that  blessing  humbly,  and  be  not 
uncharitable  to  those  that  at  present  seem  to 
want  it,  but  comfort  and  help  them.  Remember 
Job  suffered  and  was  afterwards  prosperous. 

"And  now,  to  conclude,  Experience  keeps  a 


Il6  THE    WAY    TO    WEALTH 

dear  school,  but  fools  will  learn  in  no  other,  as 
Poor  Richard  says,  and  scarce  in  that  for  it  is 
true,  We  may  give  advice,  but  we  cannot  give  con- 
duct. However,  remember  this,  They  that  will 
not  be  counseled  cannot  be  helped;  and  further, 
that  If  you  will  not  hear  Reason,  she  will  surely 
rap  your  knuckles,  as  Poor  Richard  says." 

Thus  the  old  gentleman  ended  his  harangue. 
The  people  heard  it  and  approved  the  doctrine, 
and  immediately  practiced  the  contrary  just  as 
if  it  had  been  a  common  sermon;  for  the  auction 
opened,  and  they  began  to  buy  extravagantly. 
I  found  the  good  man  had  thoroughly  studied 
my  Almanacs,  and  digested  all  I  had  dropped 
on  these  topics  during  the  course  of  twenty-five 
years.  The  frequent  mention  he  made  of  me 
must  have  tired  anyone  else,  but  my  vanity  was 
wonderfully  delighted  with  it,  though  I  was  con- 
scious that  not  a  tenth  part  of  the  wisdom  was 
my  own  which  he  ascribed  to  me,  but  rather  the 
gleanings  I  had  made  of  the  sense  of  all  ages  and 
nations.  However,  I  resolved  to  be  the  better 
for  the  echo  of  it,  and  although  I  had  at  first 
determined  to  buy  stuff  for  a  new  coat,  I  went 
away  resolved  to  wear  my  old  one  a  little  longer. 
Reader,  if  thou  wilt  do  the  same  thy  profit  will 
be  as  great  as  mine.  I  am,  as  ever,  thine  to 
serve  thee. 

Richard  Saunders. 


BIOGRAPHY 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 


BIOGRAPHY 

of       - 
BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 

By  GEORGE  E.  WRAY 


HERE  follows  a  short  history  of  BENJAMIN 

FRANKLIN  insofar  as  it  pertains  to 

his  printing  experiences  other 

than  recorded  in 

"My  Printing  Experiences'* 


Biography  of  Benjamin    Franklin 

-DEARLY     LIFE>f- 


ENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,  Printer,  Pres- 
ident of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society;  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Edinburgh,  London  and  Paris;  Gover- 
nor of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania;  and  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  from  the  United  States  to  the 
Court  of  France,  was  the  son  of  an  obscure 
tallow-chandler  and  soap-boiler,  of  Boston, 
where  he  was  born  January  17,  1706,  new  style. 
The  Franklins  of  Chaucer's  time  were  more 
or  less  notable  men  in  their  several  localities. 
The  old  poet  says: 

This  worthy  Franklin  wore  a  purse  of  silk 
Fix'd  to  his  girdle,  pure  as  morning  milk; 
Knight  of  the  shire;  first  justice  of  the  assize; 
To  help  the  poor,  the  doubtful  to  advise. 
In  all  employments,  generous  just  he  prov'd; 
Renown 'd  for  courtesy;  by  all  beloved. 

Franklin  and  Professor  Hadley  of  Cambridge 
wandered  to  the  old  village  of  Ecton,  England, 
where  the  Franklins  had  lived  poor  and  humble 
for  countless  generations,  saw  many  of  the  old 

121 


122  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

people  and  copied  inscriptions  on  tombstones 
and  parish  registers. 

Franklin  himself  somewhat  glories  in  the  fact 
that  for  300  years  the  eldest  son  of  each  gener- 
ation was  brought  up  a  blacksmith.  It  has  been 
said  that  as  the  Washington  families  and  the 
Franklin  families  were  both  of  Northampton- 
shire, England,  it  is  more  than  likely  that  a 
Washington  horse  was  oft  made  sure-footed  by 
a  Franklin  horse-shoer. 

The  three  uncles  of  Franklin — all  workers — 
were  studiously  inclined.  Uncle  Ben,  a  silk  dyer, 
was  a  great  collector  of  sermons  and  poems, 
and  in  him  our  Ben  found  a  most  agreeable 
companion.  Uncle  Ben  left  England,  owing  to 
persecutions,  and  ended  his  days  in  Boston  with 
his  brother,  Josiah,  father  of  young  Ben. 

Ben's  grandfather  was  one  of  those  who  re- 
fused to  conform  to  laws  affecting  conscience. 
Bloody  Mary  and  her  supporters  tried  such 
protesters  or  protestants  with  fire  and  fagot, 
causing  them  much  tribulation.  This  shrewd 
believer  fastened  the  family  bible  to  the  under- 
side of  the  lid  of  a  close-stool,  and  when,  while 
reading  the  sacred  book  a  priest  was  seen 
approaching,  the  stool  was  closed  and  the  bible 
hidden  beneath  it. 

Ben's  grandmother  played  a  trick  on  perse- 
cutor Asquith,  who  boasted  that  in  a  certain 


BIRTH    AND    BAPTISM  123 

little  box  in  his  pocket  he  had  a  commission 
to  scorch  and  burn  the  protestant  rogues. 
Grandma  Franklin  managed  to  secure  the  box, 
and  for  the  commission  to  persecute  the  pro- 
testants,  she  substituted  a  pack  of  cards. 
Asquith  attended  a  council  at  Coventry,  threw 
the  box  on  the  table  and  out  sprang  the  cards 
with  the  knave  of  clubs  uppermost.  The  pro- 
testants  of  Coventry  enjoyed  the  joke  so  hugely 
that  they  presented  Grandma  Franklin  with  a 
piece  of  plate  that  cost  fifty  pounds,  equal,  as 
money  now  goes,  to  over  a  thousand  dollars. 

Ben  Franklin's  father,  Josiah,  married  early 
in  England,  and  owing  to  the  persecution  of 
the  presbyterians,  the  congregationalists  or 
independents  of  the  present  day,  came  to  New 
England  in  1682,  bringing  with  him  his  wife  and 
three  children.  This  wife  bore  him  seven  children 
in  all  and  then  died.  Josiah  then  married  Abiah 
Folger,  daughter  of  Peter  Folger,  a  writer  of 
some  note  and  to  these  were  born  ten  more 
children,  of  which  Ben  was  the  tenth  son  of 
Josiah  and  the  fifteenth  child.  The  records  in 
the  mayor's  office  at  Boston  have  these  entries: 

Benjamin,  son  of  Josiah  Franklin  and  Abiah  his 
wife,  6  January,  1706 

Lydia,  daughter  of  Josiah  Franklin  and  Abiah  his 
wife,  born  8  August,  1708. 


124  BIOGRAPHY    OF    FRANKLIN 

The  introduction  of  the  Julian  calendar  and 
the  overthrow  of  the  erroneous  Gregorian 
calendar  changed  January  6,  old  style,  to  Jan- 
uary 17,  new  style. 

Josiah  Franklin  was  a  silk  dyer,  but  found 
little  call  in  New  England  for  his  services;  so, 
in  order  to  support  his  large  and  continually 
increasing  family  he  turned  soap-boiler  and 
candle-maker. 

Ben  was  born  on  a  Sunday  morning  and  was 
at  once  taken  by  his  father  over  to  the  South 
Meeting  House  and  baptized  under  the  name  of 
his  paternal  uncle  Benjamin — he  who  later 
came  to  Boston  and  encouraged  his  young 
nephew  in  many  praiseworthy  undertakings. 
Being  the  tenth  son  he  was  intended  by  pious 
Josiah  and  Abiah  as  a  "tithe"  to  be  devoted 
to  the  church,  was  sent  at  eight  years  of  age  to 
a  grammar  school,  but  Josiah's  large  family 
and  slumps  in  the  market  for  the  products  of 
the  soap-maker  and  tallow-chandler  caused 
his  removal  from  school  to  the  occupation  of 
twisting  candle  wicks.  This  so  disgusted  Ben 
that  he  contemplated  running  off  to  sea. 

Both  father  and  mother  were  considerably 
concerned  over  Ben,  and  he  was  taken  to  the 
workshops  of  coopers,  masons,  joiners,  and  other 
mechanics,  but  to  none  of  them  did  youthful 
Ben  manifest  desire.  Josiah  had  one  son  a 


FRANKLIN    DISCOVERS    ELECTRICITY   AND 
SURPRISES   THE    SCIENTIFIC    WORLD 


TERMS    OF   HIS    APPRENTICESHIP  125 

printer  and  when  Ben  was  twelve  years  old, 
it  happened  that  his  brother,  James,  had  just  re- 
turned from  England,  whither  he  had  been  to 
buy  press,  type,  and  material  to  conduct  a 
printing  office  in  Boston.  So  Ben  was  bound 
in  a  nine  year  apprenticeship  to  James,  without 
pay,  except  food  and  clothes — wages  to  be  paid 
the  last  year  only  of  the  apprenticeship. 

Ben  now  developed  a  great  taste  for  reading, 
devouring  everything  that  came  within  his 
reach,  making  friends  with  booksellers'  boys 
from  whom  he  surreptitiously  borrowed  books, 
and  even  gaining  recognition  from  tradesmen 
who  had  small  libraries,  and  who  loaned  the 
boy  literature  that  he  could  not  buy. 

Part  of  his  duty  was  to  sell  poetical  effusions 
dealing  with  current  tragedies  and  unusual 
events.  Ben  thought  he  too  could  compose 
similar  ditties,  and  urged  on  by  his  brother 
James,  he  burned  midnight  candles  to  scribble 
what  he  subsequently  called  "wretched  stuff:" 

Come  on  all  you  jolly  sailors, 

You  all  so  stout  and  brave; 
Come  hearken  and  I'll  tell  you 

What  happened  on  the  wave. 
Oh!  'tis  of  that  bloody  Blackbeard 

I'm  going  now  for  to  tell; 
And  as  how  by  gallant  Maynard 

He  soon  was  sent  to  hell — 
With  a  down,  down,  down  derry  down. 


126 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    FRANKLIN 


The  Boston  of  Ben's  day  thought  the  boy's 
poetry  "great  stuff"  and  bought  it  up  as  fast 
as  it  could  be  run  off  the  handpress.  But  Ben, 
getting  hold  of  a  volume  of  Alexander  Pope's 
works  quit  his  poetizing  and  actually  burned 
up  every  copy  of  the  Lighthouse  Tragedy  and 
Sailor's  Song  he  could  get  hold  of.  He  also 
picked  up  Addison's  Spectator  and  Bunyan's 
Pilgrim's  Progress,  and  became  enchanted  with 
the  style. 

When  about  13  he  ran  across  Tryon's  work 
on  vegetarianism  and  became  convinced  that 
eating  animal  food  was  little  short  of  crime. 
Knowing  the  avariciousness  of  his  brother 
James,  he  suggested  that  of  the  three  shillings 

and  sixpence  (84c) 
James  paid  for  Ben's 
board  he  give  him  half 
the  sum  (4-2c)  and  he 
would  board  himself. 
James  took  him  at  his 
word  without  hesit- 
ancy. Ben  now  found 
that  out  of  this  (42 
cents)  he  could  save 
twenty  cents  a  week, 
to  be  applied  in  the 
purchase  of  books. 
Around  1720 — or 


CAUGHT  THE    ADDISONIAN    STYLE  127 

about  200  years  ago — there  were  few  newspapers 
in  North  America.  The  Boston  News-Letter 
was  started  April  24,  1704;!:  he  Boston  Gazette, 
December  21,  1719;  the  American  Weekly 
Mercury,  Philadelphia,  December  22,  1719. 
James  Franklin  thought  it  was  time  to  start  a 
fourth,  so  on  August  21,  1721,  he  launched  the 
New  England  Courant,  in  spite  of  efforts  made 
by  his  friends  to  dissuade  him  from  the  venture. 

Ben's  chief  duty  seems  to  have  been  to  de- 
liver the  Courant  to  subscribers  and  otherwise 
dispose  of  them.  He  had  not  studied  the  Spec- 
tator in  vain,  for  soon  he  wrote  copy  in  a  dis- 
guised hand,  slipped  it  in  under  the  printing 
office  door  at  night,  and  awaited  results.  These 
were  not  slow  in  forthcoming,  for  he  heard  his 
efforts  praised  even  by  his  brother  James. 
The  Dogood  Papers  include  fourteen  essays 
after  the  Addisonian  style,  written  when  Ben 
was  only  15  or  16  years  of  age. 

Then  James  got  into  difficulties  with  the 
provincial  assembly  and  the  House  ordered 
that  "James  Franklin  should  not  longer  print 
the  paper  called  the  'New  England  Courant'." 
From  that  time  on  the  Courant  was  published 
under  the  name  of  Benjamin  Franklin — the  old 
indentures  being  cancelled,  and  new  ones  drawn 
up  to  be  held  secretly.  Differences  continued 
and  eventually  Ben  left.  His  brother  took  care 


128  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

that  no  other  Boston  printer  would  engage 
him,  and  hence  "Poor  Richard"  himself  was  in 
a  sad  dilemma. 

Ben  had  not  only  shared  in  his  brother's 
disgrace  in  the  eyes  of  the  governing  powers, 
but  some  of  his  writings — although  he  was  not 
yet  17  years  of  age — had  raised  the  ire  of  the 
"unco  guid"  of  Boston;  hence  by  many  he  was 
pointed  out  as  an  infidel  or  atheist.  To  make 
matters  worse  his  father  sided  with  James,  so 
that  a  parent's  consent  to  leaving  Boston  was 
unthinkable. 

Over  and  over  again  Ben  had  shown  his 
ability  to  keep  his  own  counsel;  he  trusted  only 
his  friend  Collins  with  his  secret  intention  to 
run  away.  Collins  arranged  matters  with  the 
captain  of  a  New  York  sloop.  Ben  says:  "I 
sold  some  of  my  books  to  raise  a  little  money, 
was  taken  on  board  privately,  and  as  we  had 
a  fair  wind,  in  three  days  I  found  myself  in  New 
York,  near  300  miles  from  home,  a  boy  of  but 
17,  without  the  least  recommendation  to,  or 
knowledge  of,  any  person  in  the  place,  and 
with  very  little  money  in  my  pocket." 


NOTE — This  early  history  connects  here  with  "Mr  PRINT- 
ING EXPERIENCES"  as  told  by  Franklin  himself;  see  page  II 


Inventory  of  Franklin's  Plant 


^HERE  has  been  preserved  in  the  Typo- 
graphic Library  and  Museum  of  the 
American  Type  Founders  Company,  of 
Jersey  City,  New  Jersey,  the  original 
"Inventory  of  the  Printing  Office  of  Benjamin 
Franklin,  made  by  James  Parker,  taken  Janu- 
ary 27,  1766." 

This  was  made  at  the  time  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  partnership  existing  between  Franklin 
and  Hall.  Parker  was  a  printer  who  had  served 
out  his  apprenticeship  of  seven  years  with 
William  Bradford  of  New  York. 

February  27,  1741,  articles  of  agreement 
were  drawn  up  between  Franklin  and  Parker, 
the  latter  having  determined  to  establish  him- 
self in  Philadelphia.  This  agreement  was  origi- 
nally for  six  years,  but  it  continued  for  near 
five  times  that  period  or  until  Parker  died  in 
1770. 


129 


130 


BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 


QUANTITY  AND  VALUATION  OF  BEN  FRANKLIN'S  PRINTING 

OFFICE,  PHILADELPHIA,  AS  TAKEN  JANUARY  27, 

1766  BY  JAMES  PARKER 

The  figures  in  parentheses  were  about  normal  values  of 
exchange,  pound  sterling,  $4.80,  in  1914,  and  have  been 
inserted  for  the  better  understanding  of  the  value  of  Franklin's 
printing  plant. 
Lbs. 
383  Old  Brevier,  much  worn,  and  worth  little  more 

than  old  metal,  at  8d.  (i6c)  per  lb £12:15:  4 

282  Newer  Brevier — 7  years  worn,  valued  at  is. 

3d  (3oc) 17:12:  6 

663  Bourgeois,  8  years  worn,  valued  at  is. 3d.  (3oc)   41:  8:  9 

436  Long  Primer,  well  worn,  at  is.2d.  (28c) 25:  8:  8 

318  Small  Pica,  almost  worn  out,  at  lod.  (2oc) .  . 
421  Pica,  old  and  much  battered,  at  lod.  (2oc) .  . 
334  Old  English,  fit  for  little  more  than  old  metal, 

at  8j^d.  (i?c) ii  :i6: 

502  Newer  English,  nearly  half  worn,  at  is.3d 

(3oc) 

223  Great  Primer,  well  worn,  at  is.2d.  (28c).  . 
158  Double  Pica,  pretty  good,  at  is.4d.  (32c). . 

91  Double  English  Do.,  at  is.2d.  (28c) 5:  6:  2 

70  Flowers  at  2s.  (48c) 7:  o:  o 

53  Figures,  planets,  space  rules,  black  letter,  at 

2s.3d.  (54c) 5:19:  3 

63  Large  and  title  letter,  some  old,  some  good, 

at  is.  (24c). 3:  3:  o 

40  Quotations,  justifiers,  etc.,  at  is.  (24c) 2:0:0 

3  Crooked  letters,  at  is.  (24c). 


13:  5:  o 
17:10:10 


31:  7=  6 
13:  o:  2 
10:10:  8 


85  Cases,  some  old  and  shattered,  at  53.  ($1.20).  21:  5:  o 

13  Frames  at  8s.  ($1.92) 5:4:0 

15  Chases,  some  large,  some  small,  at  6s.  ($1.44).  4:10:  o 

1 6  Letter-boards,  only  10  of  them  good  for  any- 

thing   15:  o 

3  Folio  Galleys,  8  Quarto  and  7  Small,  do i  :io:  o 

i  Letter  rack  and  one  case  rack 1:0:0 

1  Lye  trough,  i  lye  tub,  and  one  wetting  trough  i  :io:  o 
6  Composing  Sticks,  one  of  which  good-for- 
nothing i:io:  o 

2  Imposing  Stones,  with  their  stands 3:10:  o 


($61.28) 

(  84.60) 
(198.90) 
(122.08) 
(  63.60) 
(  84.20) 

(  56-78) 

(150.60) 
(  62.44) 
(  50-56) 
(  25.40) 
(  33-68) 

(  28.62) 


(      -72) 
(102.00) 


(  21.60) 


3.60) 
7.20) 
4.80) 
7.20) 


(    7.20) 
(  16.80) 


FRANKLIN  S    PRINTING    PLANT 


'3* 


1  Old  Book  Press,  much  shattered i :  o 

16  Poles  for  drying  paper 16 

2  Mallets,  2  Shooting  Sticks,  a    Planer    and 

some  old  furniture i :  o 

12  Cuts  for  Dilworth's  spelling  books 3:0 

2  King's  Arms,  3  S's  for  Bills  of  Lading,  3  or  4 

head  and  tail  pieces 2:0 

The  cuts  for  9  advertisements,  much  worn. .  i:  o 

Some  brass  pieces  of  rules,  and  other  rules. .  12:  7 

Three  printing  presses,  one  much  shattered.  45:  o 


(  4.8o) 

(  3-84) 

(  4-80) 

(  14-4°) 


(     4.8o) 

(    3-°2) 
(216.00) 


Errors  excepted — JAMES  PARKER. 


£313:10    o     ($1504.80) 


Before  Franklin  went  to  England  to  fight 
the  battles  for  the  rights  of  the  colonies  he 
entered  into  a  partnership  with  his  foreman, 
David  Hall,  the  latter  to  pay  Franklin  one 
thousand  pounds  a  year  (about  $4800.00)  for 
1 8  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  business 
was  to  be  Hall's.  In  the  final  wind-up  Parker 
represented  Franklin  and  in  a  letter  accompany- 
ing the  Inventory  he  says:  "The  valuation  seems 
smaller  than  I  imagined  it  would  be;  the  greater 
part  of  the  letter  (type)  is  much  worn,  the  old 
brevier  fit  for  very  little,  and  Hall  purposes  to 
throw  it  away.  All  is  worn,  except  the  double 
pica  English  and  newest  English.  We  weighed 
the  pages  of  the  almanac  with  all  their  rules. 
We  weighed  the  letters  in  the  cases,  weighing 
two  empty  cases  first  and  taking  their  weight 
always  out  of  it. 

"One  of  the  presses  is  almost  done  its  best, 


BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 


having  been  mended  so  often,  as  to  be  very 
patched  and  mackled." 

Franklin  seems  to  have  had  somewhat  of  a 
mania  for  partnerships,  all  of  which,  with  one 
exception,  turned  out  satisfactorily.  Some  of 
these  are  worthy  of  mention,  as  they  indicate 
that  Franklin  was  the  first  American  builder  of 
the  "trust"  or  "combine."  There  is  no  record 
that  Ben  endeavored  to  control  prices,  although 
it  is  possible  that  when  opportunity  offered,  the 
rule  would  be  —  "all  the  traffic  will  bear." 


Other  Printing  Experiences 


EN  FRANKLIN  never  forgot  that  he 
was  first,  last,  and  all  the  time  a  printer. 
The  printer  of  his  time,  however,  had 
to  be  something  more  than  a  mere  com- 
positor or  pressman,  or  both;  he  had  to  be  type 
designer  and  artist,  typefounder  and  metalman, 
color  mixer  and  inkmaker,  etcher  and  engraver, 
salesman  of  his  product  and  buyer  of  raw  mater- 
ial and  of  manufactured  goods,  retail  and 
manufacturing  stationer,  advertisement  writer 
and  designer,  author  and  compiler,  reporter, 
editor,  hack  writer  and  general  factotum. 

Franklin  designed  scripts  and  other  type  faces, 
still  so  perfect  that  they  are  considered  worthy 
of  being  closely  followed  by  modern  type  de- 
signers. He  compiled  a  dictionary  in  connection 
with  his  phonetic  alphabet  scheme  and  designed 
and  cast  types  for  the  working  out  of  his  new 
language  designs.  He  was  the  pioneer  daylight 
saver  of  his  time,  rising  with  the  sun  and  retir- 
ing with  the  birds;  maintaining  that  as  soon  as 
the  sun  rose  in  the  east  it  began  to  work  for  the 

133 


134  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

benefit  of  the  race.  He  invented  logotype  pre- 
fixes and  affixes,  with  roots  of  words,  for  the 
more  speedy  composition  of  type  matter.  He 
simplified  the  printing  of  music,  designed  plates 
for  the  production  of  paper  money  for  the  Col- 
onies so  perfectly  that  it  was  all  but  impossible 
to  counterfeit  it,  and  was  withal  a  dealer  in  all 
kinds  of  commodities — from  rags  and  pills  to 
scientific  instruments  and  Greek  text  books. 

Franklin's  adventures  in  printing  and  publish- 
ing and  merchandising  did  not  exhaust  his 
energies  by  any  means.  He  found  time  to  study 
astronomy,  electricity,  harmony  of  sounds,  silk 
culture,  tides  and  eclipses,  gulf  streams  and  the 
control  of  angry  seas,  diseases  and  their  reme- 
dies, stove  building,  home  comforts,  protection 
against  fire  and  lightning,  the  drying  of  fruits 
and  vegetables,  the  improvement  of  printing 
presses,  the  paving  and  lighting  of  city  streets, 
the  building  of  forts,  the  raising  of  war  funds 
among  the  peace-loving  Quakers,  the  establish- 
ment of  schools,  colleges,  hospitals  and  bene- 
factions, the  gift  of  libraries,  and  many  other 
things  looking  towards  the  advancement  of 
civilization. 

Yet  all  of  Franklin's  achievements  prior  to  his 
mission  to  Great  Britain  sink  into  comparative 
insignificance  when  his  service  to  the  Colonies 
and  to  the  world  at  large  is  considered.  Loyal  to 


POOR    RICHARD   INSPIRES    JONES  135 

the  Crown  he  fought  for  justice  under  the  Crown 
on  behalf  of  the  subjects  of  the  King  of  Great 
Britain  in  the  Colonies.  He  fought  the  obnox- 
ious Stamp  Act,  offered  to  pay  for  the  shipload 
of  taxed  tea  thrown  overboard  into  Boston  Har- 
bor if  Great  Britain  would  repeal  the  unjust  tax. 
Yet  when  the  stubborn  monarch  said  he  would 
only  treat  with  rebels  when  they  knelt  to  him 
for  pardon,  his  patience  was  exhausted  and  soon 
after  his  flight  back  to  the  Colonies  said:  "Boys, 
unless  we  all  hang  together  now,  we  surely  will 
all  hang  separately."  Revolution  was  on. 

Then  came  Franklin's  mission  to  France, 
where  he  was  hailed  as  the  Friend  of  Man.  He 
persuaded  the  King  of  France  and  his  ministers 
to  advance  millions  of  money  and  thousands  of 
men  in  order  to  establish  the  independence  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  then  in  the  birth- 
throes.  He  enlisted  young  Lafayette  in  the  cause 
of  freedom  and  sent  him  over  to  aid  Washington. 
The  intrepid  Paul  Jones  sought  ships  vainly 
from  France;  he  had  appealed  even  to  the  King 
himself;  he  read  in  Poor  Richard  that  he  who 
wished  a  thing  done  might  send  a  message,  but 
that  he  who  would  have  it  done,  must  needs  go 
himself.  Paul  went,  he  won,  and  made  history 
the  United  States  Marines  keep  alive  to  this  day. 
Not  till  Franklin  had  signed  the  release  of  Corn- 
wallis  after  his  surrender  at  Yorktown,  Virginia, 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    FRANKLIN 


did  our  Ben  Franklin  rest  long  enough  to  sing 
the  Nunc  Dimittis. 

Yet  in  and  through  it  all  Franklin  had  the 
bitterest  of  opposition.  His  own  son,  for  whom 
he  had  secured  the  governorship  of  the  Colony 
of  New  Jersey,  remained  attached  to  the  Crown, 
thousands  of  Loyalists  went  over  to  Canada  — 
where  their  descendants  are  still  banded  to- 
gether —  while  others  in  high  stations  goaded 
Franklin  with  falsehoods  and  vile  innuendoes. 
This  continued  for  many  years  openly,  and 
boldly  as  well  as  secretly;  even  today  there  are 
those  who,  while  basking  in  the  sunshine  of 
freedom  Franklin  spent  more  than  half  his  life 
in  securing,  seem  to  delight  in  puny  efforts  to 
besmirch  one  of  the  greatest  characters  the 
world  has  produced. 

Some  of  Franklin's  Partnerships 

Franklin's  partnerships  were  uniformly  suc- 
cessful —  with  only  one  exception  —  owing  "to 
the  precaution  of  having  explicitly  settled  every- 
thing to  be  done  by  or  expected  from  each  part- 
ner, so  that  there  was  nothing  to  dispute."  He 
established  several  brighter  apprentices  and 
meritorious  assistants  in  business  in  various 
parts  of  the  Colonies. 

Franklin  and  Meredith  became  partners  in 
1728,  and  dissolved  in  1730,  or  nearly  three 


FRANKLIN  S    PARTNERSHIPS 


years.  In  1731  Franklin  established  a  partner- 
ship with  Thomas  Whitemarsh,  at  Charleston, 
S.  C.,  and  in  1732  they  founded  the  Gazette 
there.  Later  on  he  formed  alliance  at  Charles- 
ton with  Peter  Timothy,  son  of  Louis  Timothee, 
the  former  editor  of  Franklin's  German  news- 
paper. With  regard  to  Peter  Timothy,  his  wife 
and  son  —  Ben  Franklin  Timothy  —  he  writes: 

I  sent  one  of  my  journeymen  to  Charleston  and 
furnished  him  with  a  press  and  letters,  on  an 
agreement  of  partnership,  by  which  I  was  to  re- 
ceive one-third  of  the  profits  of  the  business,  pay- 
ing one-third  of  the  expense.  He  was  a  man  of 
learning,  and  honest,  but  ignorant  of  account; 
and  though  he  sometimes  made  me  remittances, 
I  could  get  no  account  from  him,  nor  any  satis- 
factory statement  of  our  partnership.  On  his  de- 
cease, the  business  was  continued  by  his  widow, 
who  not  only  sent  me  a  clear  statement  of  the 
transactions  past,  but  continued  to  account 
with  the  greatest  regularity  and  exactness  after- 
wards, and  managed  the  business  with  such  suc- 
cess that  she  not  only  brought  up  reputably  a 
family  of  children,  but  was  able  to  purchase  the 
printing-house,  and  establish  her  son  Ben  in  it. 

The  partnership  at  Carolina  having  succeeded 
I  was  encouraged  to  engage  in  others,  and  to  pro- 
mote several  of  my  workmen  by  establishing 
them  with  printing-houses,  in  different  colonies, 
on  the  same  terms.  Most  of  them  did  well,  being 
enabled  toward  the  end  of  the  six-year  terms  to 
purchase  the  plants. 


138  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

Ben's  brother  James  removed  his  printing 
plant  from  troublous  Boston  to  Newport,  R.  I., 
and  here  Ben  paid  his  older  brother  a  visit. 
Animosity  vanished  and  the  oldest  and  youngest 
sons  of  Josiah  and  Abiah  Franklin  were  recon- 
ciled sufficiently  for  Ben  to  take  his  nephew 
James,  aged  ten,  back  to  Philadelphia  to  put 
him  to  school  and  to  teach  him  the  art  of  print- 
ing. His  brother  James  died  at  Newport,  so 
Franklin  sent  his  nephew  back  to  his  mother 
with  such  a  liberal  assortment  of  types  that  he 
could  aid  the  widow  in  continuing  the  business. 
Franklin  wrote  that  "though  James  is  yet 
young,  I  hope  he  has  solidity  enough  to  conduct 
a  printing  office  with  prudence  and  to  advan- 
tage. If  he  manages  well  I  will  still  further  en- 
courage him."  Besides  her  son  James,  Mrs. 
James  Franklin  was  aided  by  her  two  daughters, 
both  "quick  and  correct  compositors  at  case." 

Franklin  established  Benjamin  Mecom,  nick- 
named Dandy  Queer  Notions,  the  son  of  his 
sister  Jane,  in  the  printing,  stationery  and  book- 
selling business  at  Antigua,  West  Indies,  about 
1750 — having  previously  established  "poor 
Smith  there."  The  lad  got  behind  with  Mr. 
Strahan  of  London,  and  returned  to  Boston, 
where  he  was  again  set  up  by  his  uncle  Ben.  He 
was  yet  again  started  off  in  Connecticut,  and 
eventually  Ben  secured  for  the  son  of  his  fav- 
orite sister  the  postmastership  of  New  Haven. 


FRANKLIN    AND    PARKER  139 

William  Dunlap,  who  married  into  Mrs. 
Deborah  Franklin's  family,  was  established  by 
Franklin  in  the  printing  business  at  Lancaster, 
and  later  at  Philadelphia.  He  eventually 
became  rector  of  a  Virginia  parish  through  the 
wide  spreading  influence  of  Franklin. 

In  1753  Franklin  settled  Samuel  Holland  at 
Lancaster.  Later  on  Hall  and  Miller  were  also 
established  here  by  Franklin.  William  Smith,  in 
partnership  with  Franklin,  founded  the  Free- 
port  Gazette  in  1765.  Geo.  Armbruester  and 
Franklin  were  partners  from  1747  to  1750;  he 
joined  efforts  with  J.  Boehm  from  1749  to  1751; 
and  from  1754  to  1758  Franklin  and  A.  Arm- 
bruester were  linked  together  in  the  production 
of  printing.  In  Kingston,  Jamaica,  Franklin 
settled  William  Daniell,  and  established  other 
prospective  deservants  in  Georgia,  Connecticut 
and  other  states. 

In  1741  Franklin  and  James  Parker  united 
themselves  for  six  years,  the  agreement  running 
on  till  Parker's  death  in  1770 — nearly  thirty 
years.  Parker  had  served  his  apprenticeship 
with  Bradford  in  New  York,  and  he  continued 
Bradford's  New  York  Gazette  as  the  Weekly  Post 
Boy.  The  plant,  furnished  by  Franklin,  con- 
sisted of  "a  printing  press  with  all  its  necessary 
appurtenances,  with  400  lb.  of  letters;"  but  "all 
charges  for  paper,  inks,  balls,  tympans,  oil, 


140  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

wool,  etc.,"  two- thirds  being  charged  to  Parker 
and  one-third  to  Franklin,  the  profits  were 
divided  on  the  same  basis. 

Franklin's  last  partnership  experience  was 
with  Francis  Childs,  who  enlisted  Franklin's 
interest  while  the  latter  was  Minister  to  France 
in  1782.  Childs  had  served  an  apprenticeship 
with  William  Dunlap  and  had  started  a  small 
business  in  New  York.  The  partnership  contin- 
ued until  April,  1790,  not  long  before  the  death 
of  this  remarkable  partnership  builder.  Childs 
was  always  complaining  of  shortages  from 
Bache's  typefoundry  and  explaining  his  short- 
ages of  remittances.  Ben  has  left  some  model 
dunning  letters  quite  up  to  date  with  those  of 
modern  bill  collectors. 

One  of  Franklin's  orders  for  a  partnership 
plant  has  been  preserved  in  a  letter  to  his  friend 
and  business  agent,  Wm.  Strahan,  London,  and 
it  runs  as  follows: 

Bespeak  for  me  of  Mr.  Caslon:  3oolb.  long 
primer  with  figures  and  signs  sufficient  for  an 
almanac;  3oolb.  pica;  loolb.  great  primer;  3oolb. 
english;  6olb.  double  pica;  5olb.  two-line  english; 
4olb.  two-line  great  primer  (roman  and  italic  for 
last  three  items);  3olb.  two-line  capitals  and 
flowers;  2olb.  quotations.  As  Mr.  Caslon  has  dif- 
ferent long  primers,  picas,  etc.,  I  beg  favor  of  your 
judgment  to  choose  the  best. 

To  which  add — A  complete  good  new  press,  2 


STATUES  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  Printer,  adorn  every  city  of  note  in  the 
country.  Greatest  of  Americans,  he  started  out  as  a  runaway  apprentice, 
leaving  Boston  for  New  York  and  thence  on  to  Philadelphia.  This 
particular  bronze  statue  has  been  acquired  by  the  Typographic  Library 
and  Museum  of  the  American  Typefounders  Company,  Jersey  City, 
New  Jersey.  It  is  seven  feet  high  and  is  the  work  of  Sculptor  Plassman; 
it  is  shown  here  by  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Henry  Lewis  Bullen,  Jersey  City 


SATISFACTION    WITH    HALL  14! 

pairs  blankets,  2  pairs  ballstocks,  some  reglets, 
gutter  sticks,  side  sticks,  quoins,  etc.;  3  pairs 
chases,  different  sizes,  the  biggest  demy;  2  folio 
galleys,  each  with  four  shies;  4  quarto  galleys;  a 
few  facs  (borders  for  initial  letters — W.);  head 
and  tail  pieces;  2  doz.  brass  rules;  2  good  compos- 
ing sticks;  2  kegs  ink,  one  weak,  one  strong.  In- 
sure the  whole. 

Franklin  wrote  from  London  to  Hall  in  1795 
that  his  "prudent  conduct  in  my  absence  gives 
me  great  satisfaction."  At  this  time  Franklin 
was  evidently  extending  the  Philadelphia  plant 
for  he  expresses  his  "surprise  to  hear  that  the 
new  font  of  bourgeois  was  not  got  to  hand.  I 
got  it  ready  and  paid  Caslon  for  it;  it  was  in  two 
boxes  marked  B.  F.  I,  2.  If  you  think  another 
font  of  brevier  necessary,  let  me  know."  Hall 
having  mentioned  that  many  printing  offices 
were  being  started  in  Philadelphia,  his  aging 
partner  replied: 

You  are  in  the  right  not  to  be  uneasy  at  the 
number  of  printing  offices  setting  up  in  Philadel- 
phia; the  country  is  increasing  and  business  must 
increase  with  it.  We  are  pretty  well  established, 
and  shall  probably,  with  God's  blessing  and  a  pru- 
dent conduct,  always  have  our  share.  The  young 
ones  will  not  be  so  likely  to  hurt  us  as  one  another. 
I  much  doubt  whether  I  shall  be  able  to  send 
copy  for  the  (Poor  Richard)  Almanac;  I  thought 
I  should  surely  have  sent  it  last  year,  having  col- 
lected material,  but  interruptions  disappointed 
me.  If  you  do  not  receive  it  by  next  packet,  shift 
without  it  one  year  more,  as  you  did  very  well  last 
year,  and  before  another  I  hope  to  be  home. 


142  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

Franklin  as  Typefounder 

When  Franklin  first  went  to  London  he  read- 
ily secured  employment  with  Samuel  Palmer, 
a  printer  and  typefounder,  who  occupied  part 
of  the  church  of  St.  Bartholomew.  Palmer  had 
visited  America,  was  writing  a  history  of  print- 
ing, but  died  before  its  completion.  In  connec- 
tion a  typefoundry  was  conducted  by  Thomas 
James  in  front  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Church, 
and  hither  Franklin  often  went  until  he  picked 
up  the  secrets  of  this  art.  When  he  returned  to 
Philadelphia  to  take  charge  of  Keimer's  plant, 
he  found  that  he  could  utilize  his  scant  knowl- 
edge of  typefounding  to  advantage.  Here  he 
made  molds  and  cast  sorts  for  Keimer's  meager 
fonts,  using  the  least  worn  letters  for  punch- 
eons. Hence  Franklin  was  the  first  typefounder 
on  the  western  hemisphere. 

Franklin  was  on  friendly  terms  with  William 
Caslon,  the  famous  London  typefounder,  whose 
house  flourishes  to  this  day.  In  1788  he  wrote  a 
letter  to  Caslon  which  carries  an  idea  that  is 
evidently  almost  as  old  as  the  hills.  Here  he 
figures  as  an  authority  on  printers'  credits: 

I  approve  very  much  of  your  resolution  not  to 
send  types  abroad  upon  credit.  Their  excel- 
lence will  secure  sufficient  demand  without  it. 
Some  other  British  founders  have  been  so  extrav- 
agantly liberal  that  way,  and  thereby  created 


CASH  VERSUS  CREDIT          143 

such  a  number  of  master  printers  more  than  the 
business  of  the  country  can  maintain,  as  may  pro- 
bably be  hurtful  to  both  the  debtors  and  creditors. 

Later  Franklin  was  in  correspondence  with 
Baskerville,  noted  printer  and  letterfounder  of 
Birmingham,  and  Franklin  advised  Baskerville 
also  not  to  give  credit  for  type  and  material  to 
aspiring  but  penurious  American  printers.  Even 
as  late  as  1880,  100  years  after  Frank- 
lin and  Caslon  and  Baskerville — it  was  not  un- 
common for  British  typefounders  to  give  a 
year's  credit  without  interest,  and  extensions  of 
credit  with  interest,  to  struggling  printers.  And 
the  longer  the  credit  the  more  prolonged  the 
struggle. 

In  connection  with  this  idea  that  Short  reck- 
onings make  long  friends ',  as  Poor  Richard  says, 
Franklin  wrote  his  son-in-law  Bache  to  deal  only 
"in  the  ready-money  way,  though  you  should 
sell  less.  It  is  the  safest  and  easiest  manner  of 
carrying  on  business." 

After  Franklin's  return  from  France  about 
1785,  in  conjunction  with  his  grandson — Benja- 
min Franklin  Bache — he  established  a  type 
foundry.  Specimen  sheets  of  the  product  of  this 
foundry  may  be  seen  in  the  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society  collection  as  well  as  at  New  Jer- 
sey. It  was  to  this  grandson  Franklin  left  the 
type  and  material  he  owned  at  Philadelphia 


144  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

at  his  death  together  with  "the  complete  letter- 
foundry,  which  I  suppose  to  be  worth  near  one 
thousand  pounds." 

That  Franklin  cast  type  while  in  France  is 
evident  from  a  certificate  as  to  type  sent  from 
France  to  New  York.  It  reads: 

I  do  certify  that  the  printing  types  furnished 
Mr.  Francis  Childs  in  fifteen  boxes  marked 
B.  F.  9, 10, 23,  24,  25,  26,  27, 28, 33, 38,  53,  54, 59, 
60,  were  made  in  my  house  at  Passy,  and  were 
never  the  property  of  any  European  letterfounder 
or  merchant. 

Virginia  Seizes  Franklin's  Plant 

One  of  Franklin's  plants  in  Virginia  was  com- 
mandeered by  the  state  "at  the  beginning  of 
the  troubles"  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
Colonies.  Richard  Bache  wrote  Franklin  in 
London  to  set  a  price  thereon,  but  gave  no  par- 
ticulars. Franklin  writes  from  London  in  1799: 

Did  they  take  the  cases  as  well  as  the  types? 
There  was  a  large  mahogany  press  that  cost  me 
25  guineas  ($  126.00)  and  a  small  one  that  cost 
me  12  guineas  ($60.48).  Did  they  take  these? 
The  five  cases  of  money-type  you  say  Congress 
has  taken.  I  hope  they  did  not  take  the  presses, 
for  I  should  be  unwilling  to  part  with  them  as 
they  were  made  under  my  own  inspection  with 
improvements.  Also  the  stone  and  the  chases 
which  may  be  valued  by  any  printer. 


TWO   JOURNEYMEN    PRINTERS  145 

The  script  letters  which  the  Congress  have 
taken  cost  me  double  the  price  of  common  letters 
of  the  same  sizes,  the  long  pica  and  long  primer 
were  £40  ($192.00).  Have  forgotten  what  I  gave 
for  the  larger  sort,  suppose  £10  ($48.00).  You 
may,  therefore,  settle  that. 

The  law  characters  cost  me  £30  ($144.00)  and 
a  large  font  of  Greek  was  valued  at  £40  ($192.00); 
about  5oolb.  long  primer  at  is.  6d.  (j6c)  amount- 
ed to  £39:  10  ($189.00).  The  law  types  and  the 
Greek  would  be  of  no  use  to  the  government  so 
I  would  be  willing  to  take  them  back  if  they 
are  entire.  I  submit  the  whole  to  the  honor  and 
equity  of  the  government. 

Ben  Uses  Printers'  Terms 

When  near  the  close  of  his  life  (1784)  he  wrote 
entertainingly  to  William  Strahan,  London, 
using  printers'  expressions  as  follows: 

Let  us  leave  these  serious  reflections  and  con- 
verse with  our  usual  pleasantry.  I  remember  your 
observing  once  to  me  as  we  sat  together  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  that  no  two  journeymen 
printers,  within  our  knowledge,  had  met  with 
such  success  in  the  world  as  ourselves.  You  were 
then  at  the  head  of  your  profession,  and  soon 
afterwards  became  a  member  of  parliament.  I 
was  an  agent  for  a  few  provinces,  and  now  act  for 
them  all.  But  we  have  risen  by  different  modes. 
I,  as  a  republican  printer \  always  liked  a  forme 
well  planed  down;  being  averse  to  those  over- 
bearing letters  that  hold  their  heads  so  high,  as  to 
hinder  their  neighbors  from  appearing.  You,  as  a 


146  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

monarchist,  chose  to  work  upon  crown  paper, 
and  found  it  profitable,  while  I  worked  upon  pro 
patria  (often  indeed  called  foolscap)  with  no  less 
advantage.  Both  our  heaps  hold  out  very  well, 
and  we  seem  likely  to  make  a  pretty  good  day's 
work  of  it.  With  regard  to  public  affairs  (to  con- 
tinue in  the  same  style),  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
compositors  in  your  chapel  do  not  cast  off  their 
copy  well,  not  perfectly  understanding  imposing; 
their  formes  too,  are  continually  pestered  by  the 
outs  and  doubles,  that  are  not  easy  to  be  corrected. 
And  I  think  they  were  wrong  in  laying  aside 
some  faces,  and  particularly  certain  head-pieces, 
that  would  have  been  both  useful  and  ornamen- 
tal. But  courage!  The  business  may  still  flourish 
with  good  management. 

Again,  in  writing  of  the  maneuvers  of  those 
Britishers  who  were  stubbornly  determined  to 
keep  the  Colonies  subject  to  imperial  taxation 
he  continues: 

Those  places,  to  speak  in  our  old  style  (brother 
type),  may  be  good  for  the  chapel,  but  they  are 
bad  for  the  master,  as  they  create  constant  quar- 
rels that  hinder  the  business.  For  example,  here 
are  two  months  that  your  government  has  been 
employed  in  getting  its  forme  to  press;  which  it  is 
not  yet  fit  to  work  on,  every  page  of  it  being 
squabbled  and  the  whole  ready  to  fall  into  pi. 
The  fonts  too  are  very  scanty  and  strangely 
out  of  sorts,  comps.  cannot  find  either  upper  or 
lower  case  letters  sufficient  to  set  the  word  AD- 
MINISTRATION, but  are  forced  to  be  continually 
turning  for  them. 


AS  TO  REFORMED  SPELLING       147 

Reformed  Spelling 

Franklin  invented  a  phonetic  alphabet,  but 
only  a  few  of  his  admirers  ever  attempted  to  use 
it,  although  he  cast  types  in  the  expectation  that 
the  world  would  welcome  the  innovation.  In 
this  connection  when  his  sister  Jane  had  asked 
him  to  "excuse  my  bad  spelling,"  he  wrote: 

You  need  not  be  concerned  about  spelling,  for 
as  our  alphabet  now  stands  the  bad  spelling  is 
generally  the  best.  To  give  you  an  instance:  A 
gentleman  received  a  letter  and  in  it  were  these 
words — Not  finding  Brown  at  horn  I  delivered 
yr  mesag  to  his  wf.  He  called  his  lady  to  help  read 
it  but  both  failed.  They  called  the  chambermaid 
who  said:  "Why  w  f  spells  wife;  what  else  can  it 
spell?"  And  indeed  it  is  a  much  better  and 
shorter  method  than  Doubleyou,  i,  ef,  e,  which 
in  reality  spells  Doublewijey. 

In  1779  Franklin  expressed  his  opinion  of  the 
Boston  newspapers  in  a  letter  from  Paris  to 
Boston: 

I  thank  you  for  the  Boston  papers  though  I 
see  nothing  so  clearly  in  them  as  that  your  print- 
ers do  indeed  want  new  letters.  They  blind  me  in 
endeavoring  to  read  them.  If  you  should  have 
any  secrets  that  you  wish  to  be  well  kept,  get 
them  printed  in  these  papers. 


148  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

Sense  Preferable  to  Sound 

When  some  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts 
named  a  town  in  Franklin's  honor,  they  suggest- 
ed that  he  give  them  a  bell  for  the  steeple  of 
their  meeting  house.  In  1785  he  gave  £25 
(| 1 20.00)  to  establish  a  parish  library.  He  wrote 
as  follows  from  France  to  Dr.  Price: 

A  new  town  having  done  me  the  honor  of 
naming  itself  after  me  and  proposing  to  build  a 
steeple  to  their  meeting  house  if  I  would  give 
them  a  bell,  I  have  advised  the  sparing  of  the 
expense  of  the  steeple  and  that  they  accept  good 
books  such  as  are  apt  to  inculcate  principles  of 
sound  religion  and  just  government  instead  of  a 
bell,  sense  being  preferable  to  sound. 

The  dedication  of  the  library  was  quite  an 
event  in  Massachusetts.  A  sermon  on  the  Dig- 
nity of  Man,  from  the  words  "Show  Thyself  a 
Man"  was  delivered  and  the  dedication  was  in 
this  flowery  language: 

To  His  Excellency  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN, 
President  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania;  the 
Ornament  of  Genius,  the  Patron  of  Science,  and 
the  Boast  of  Man.  Inscribed  with  the  Greatest 
Deference,  Humility  and  Gratitude. 


FRANKLIN  S    ACTIVITIES  149 

Notes 

When  living  in  London  Franklin  conducted 
the  Craven  Street  Gazette,  a  humorous  affair, 
for  circulation  only  among  his  intimate  friends. 
He  lived  at  No.  7.  There  he  received  many 
notables.  A  tablet  on  the  building  reads: 

LIVED   HERE 
BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN 

PRINTER 

PHILOSOPHER   AND   STATESMAN 
BORN    1706 
DIED    1790 

When  in  Passy,  France,  Franklin  had  a  print- 
ing office  there,  and  conducted  it  largely  for  his 
own  pleasure  and  for  the  ready  production  of 
pamphlets. 

When  sent  to  Canada  to  influence  the  Cana- 
dians to  join  hands  with  the  Colonies  in  throw- 
ing off  the  British  yoke  he  took  a  printing  plant 
and  printers  to  Montreal.  His  printing  press  is 
still  on  exhibit  in  the  museum  there  on  Rue 
Notre  Dame. 

While  in  London  he  was  engaged  to  teach 
swimming  to  some  lordlings;  and  said,  "I  think 
it  not  impossible  to  swim  from  Dover  to  Calais; 
the  packet-boat,  however^  is  still  preferable." 


150  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

Ben's  Department  Store 

Here  is  the  first  mention  of  fountain  pens  in 
America  (1742),  given  in  an  advertisement  from 
Franklin's  Gazette.  Note  that  this  first  American 
department  store  carried  a  great  variety  of  ware, 
from  mezzotints  of  Preacher  Whitefield  to 
"likely  young  Negroes,"  and  from  pewter 
stands  to  pills  and  pounce: 

Just  imported  from  London  and  to  be  sold  by  B.  Franklin, 
at  the  Post  Office,  near  the  Market  in  Philadelphia:  All 
sorts  of  fine  paper,  parchment,  inkpowder,  sealing  wax,  waf- 
ers, fountain  pens,  ink  and  sand  glasses  with  brass  heads, 
pounce,  and  pounce  boxes,  curios,  large  ivory  books  and  com- 
mon ditto,  large  and  small  slates,  Gunter's  scales,  dividers, 
protracters,  pocket  compasses,  both  large  and  small,  fine 
pewter  stands  proper  for  offices  and  counting  houses,  fine 
mezzotints  and  graded  pictures  of  Mr.  Whitefield.  Great 
variety  of  bibles,  testaments,  psalters,  spelling  books,  primers, 
hornbooks,  and  other  sorts  of  stationery  ware. 

Very  good  coffee  sold  by  the  printer  hereof. 

Very  good  sack  at  6s.  per  gallon.  Inquire  of  the  printer  hereof. 

Two  likely  young  Negroes,  one  a  lad  about  19;  the  other  a 
girl  of  15,  to  be  sold.  Inquire  of  the  printer. 

Ready  money  for  old  rags  may  be  had  of  the  printer  hereof. 
Lampblack  made  and  sold  by  the  printer  of  the  Gazette. 

Taken  out  of  a  Pew  in  the  Church  a  Common  Prayer  Book, 
bound  in  red,  gilt,  letters  D.  F.  The  person  who  took  it  is  de- 
sired to  open  it,  read  the  Eighth  Commandment,  and  return  it 
to  the  same  Pew.  No  further  notice  will  be  taken. 

The  printer  has  in  his  hand  the  Second  Volume  of  Cowley's 
Works  in  Octavo,  of  which  he  does  not  know  the  Owner. 

A  Parcel  of  likely  Men  and  Women  Servants  are  to  be  sold 
by  S.  Ferguson  at  Widow  Fox's,  Walnut  Street,  on  reason- 
able terms  for  Ready  Money,  Country  Produce,  or  Credit. 


Page  of  COLONIAL  Advertisements 


Six  or  seven  months  ago,  was  lent  by  DAVID  EVANS,  a 
Barbecuing  iron,  which  he  desires  may  be  returned,  he  hav- 
ing forgot  to  whom  he  lent  it. 

Between  the  second  and  third  Sundays  in  June  past,  there 
was  stolen  three  Bibles  out  of  the  Baptist  Meeting  House. 
Whoever  gives  notice  of  the  said  Bibles,  and  secures  them 
so  that  they  may  be  had  again,  shall  have  Fifteen  Shillings 
reward  at  the  printer's. 

A  likely  young  breeding  Negro  Woman  fit  for  town  or 
country  business,  has  had  the  small  pox;  also  a  mill  for 
grinding  Malt,  and  a  Screen  for  cleaning  of  Malt  or  any  other 
grain;  inquire  of  JOHN  DANBY  in  Third  Street,  and  know  the 
Price;  they  will  be  sold  very  reasonable  for  Ready  Money. 

STOLEN  or  STRAYED,  out  of  Benjamin  Franklin's  pasture 
near  Philadelphia,  a  young  Sorrel  Horse,  14  hands,  Silver 
Mane  and  Tail,  four  white  feet,  Blaze  in  his  Face,  no  Brand, 
a  large  Belly,  and  shod  all  around.  Also  a  small  Bay  Horse 
without  shoes,  low  in  Flesh,  long  Dark  Tail  and  Mane.  Who- 
ever brings  them  to  B.  F.,  shall  have  405.  for  the  first  and 
los.  for  the  other.  If  stolen  and  the  Thief  brought  to  Justice, 
Five  Pounds,  with  reasonable  charges  paid  by  B.  Franklin. 


Widow  Read,  removed  from  the  upper  end  of  High  Street, 
to  the  New  Printing  Office,  near  the  Market,  continues  to 
make  and  sell  her  well-known  Ointment  for  the  Itch,  with 
which  she  has  cured  abundance  of  People  in  and  about  the 
City  of  Philadelphia  for  a  number  of  years.  It  is  always 
effectual  for  the  purpose,  and  never  fails  to  perform  the  Cure 
speedily.  It  kills  or  drives  away  all  Sorts  of  Lice  in  once  or 
twice  using.  Price  as.  USc)  a  gallypot  ounce.  Also  her  Family 
Salve  for  Burns  and  Scalds,  is.  (14.0)  an  ounce.  Also  Lockyer's 
Pills,  at  3d.  (6c)  a  pill. 


152  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

A  Stickler  for  Correctness 

Speaking  of  printers'  errors  Franklin  has  this 
to  say: 

In  my  last,  a  few  faults  escaped;  some  belong  to 
the  author,  but  most  to  the  printer:  let  each  take 
his  share  of  the  blame,  confess,  and  amend  for  the 
future.  Printers  indeed  should  be  very  careful  how 
they  omit  a  figure  or  letter;  for  by  such  means 
sometimes  a  terrible  alteration  is  made  in  the 
sense.  I  have  heard,  that  once,  in  a  new  edition  of 
the  Common  Prayer,  the  following  sentence, 
"We  shall  all  be  changed  in  a  moment,  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,"  by  an  omission  of  a  single 
letter,  became,  "We  shall  all  be  hanged  in  a 
moment,  etc.,"  to  the  no  small  surprise  of  the  first 
congregation  it  was  read  to. 

To  show  the  value  of  a  comma  Franklin  tells 
the  story  of  the  country  minister  who  was  hand- 
ed a  crudely  written  notice  to  read  in  the  meet- 
ing house: 

A  man  going  to  sea  his  wife  desires  the  prayers 
of  the  congregation. 

The  preacher  placed  the  comma  pause  after 
the  word  "wife"  instead  of  pausing  after  the 
word  "sea." 

Finding  that  his  audience  smiled  audibly,  the 
divine  made  still  another  attempt,  and  this  time 
he  made  a  comma  pause  after  "man"  and  another 
after  "wife."  This  was  too  much  for  the  sober 
congregation. 


FRANKLIN    INVENTS    LOGOTYPES  153 

"Follow  Copy" 

Franklin  felt  strongly  upon  the  matter  of  the 
misuse  of  capitals  and  italics.  He  sent  copy  to 
the  printer  and  asked  him  to  take  care  that  the 
printers  observed  strictly  "the  italicking,  cap- 
italling  and  pointing."  He  told  his  son  that  his 
"Edict  of  the  King  of  Prussia"  had  been  re- 
printed "stripped  of  all  the  capitalling  and 
italicking  that  intimate  the  allusions  and  mark 
the  emphasis  of  written  discourses,  to  bring 
them  as  near  as  possible  to  those  spoken.  Print- 
ing such  a  piece  all  in  one  even  small  character 
seems  to  me  like  repeating  one  of  Whitefield's 
sermons  in  the  monotony  of  a  school  boy." 

Logotype  Printing 

John  Walter,  founder  of  the  London  Times, 
sought  Franklin's  interest  in  Johnson's  system 
of  logotypes  by  which  whole  words  or  prefixes 
and  affixes  were  used  in  printing.  Franklin 
wrote  in  1784  from  Passy,  France: 

So  far  as  I  understand  the  system  I  am  much 
pleased  with  it.  I  do  not  perfectly  comprehend 
the  arrangement  of  cases,  but  the  reduction 
of  the  number  of  pieces  in  roots  of  words  and 
their  terminations  is  extremely  ingenious.  I  like 
the  idea  of  cementing  the  letters,  which  I  for- 
merly attempted  and  I  invented  a  mold  and 
method  by  which  I  could,  in  a  few  minutes,  form 


154  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

a  matrice  of  any  word  in  any  font  at  pleasure 
and  cast  from  it. 

I  send  specimen  of  some  of  my  own  termina- 
tions and  I  would  willingly  instruct  Mr.  Henry 
Johnson  in  the  method,  but  he  has  a  better. 
Madame  De  St.  Paul  invented  a  new  system  of 
typography  here  and  the  King  of  France  has 
borne  the  expense  of  the  experiments.  Madame's 
method  is  said  to  reduce  the  work  of  setting  the 
type  one-half,  whereas  Johnson's  method  lessens 
it  three-fourths. 

Printer's  "Phat" 

Franklin  had  a  decided  objection  to  the 
"phatting  out"  of  type  matter  with  slugs  and 
white  lines.  In  his  recorded  orders  on  Caslon 
or  Baskerville  he  never  requests  that  great  aid 
to  modern  composition — leads.  What  the  ad. 
writers  of  to-day  know  as  "white  space,"  was 
not  dreamed  of  by  Our  Ben.  When  he  was  79, 
he  wrote: 

One  can  scarce  see  a  new  book  without  ob- 
serving the  excessive  artifices  used  to  puff  up 
a  paper  of  verses  into  a  pamphlet,  a  pamphlet 
into  an  octavo,  an  octavo  into  a  quarto,  with 
scabboardings,  white  lines,  sparse  titles,  exorbi- 
tant margins,  to  such  a  degree  that  the  selling  of 
paper  seems  now  to  be  the  object,  and  printing 
only  a  pretense.  You  have  a  law  against  butch- 
ers' blowing  of  veal  to  make  it  look  fatter;  why 
not  one  against  the  blowing  of  books  to  make 
them  look  bigger. 


PRINTER   TO    THE    END  155 

Holding  Over  Objectionable  Copy 

Franklin  gave  no  end  of  good  advice  useful  to 
reporters,  writers  and  editors  of  the  present  day. 
With  regard  to  attacks  upon  the  characters  of 
more  or  less  prominent  men,  he  invariably  re- 
fused to  countenance  or  aid  them.  To  one  cor- 
respondent he  wrote  in  1786,  returning  the  ob- 
jectionable copy  with  such  tactful  expressions 
of  goodwill  that  none  could  take  offense: 

Do  not  publish  the  piece  immediately;  let  it 
lie  by  you  at  least  a  twelvemonth;  then  recon- 
sider it  and  do  what  you  find  proper.  You  both 
have  children,  and  the  animosity  may  be  en- 
tailed to  the  prejudice  of  both  sides.  With  great 
esteem  and  affection,  I  am,  etc. 

Printer  to  the  End 

When  Franklin  was  83  years  old  he  wrote  to 
one  of  his  young  lady  correspondents  as  follows: 

I  am  too  old  to  follow  printing  again  myself, 
but  loving  the  business  I  have  brought  up  my 
grandson  Ben  to  it  and  have  built  and  furnished 
a  printing-house  for  him,  which  he  now  manages 
under  my  eye. 

When  he  wrote  his  will  in  the  closing  days  of 
his  life  it  began:  "I,  Benjamin  Franklin,  of 
Philadelphia,  Printer,  late  Minister  Plenipoten- 
tiary from  the  United  States  of  America  to  the 
Court  of  France,"  etc. 


156  BIOGRAPHY    OF    FRANKLIN 

Franklin  statues  have  been  erected  in  most 
of  the  large  cities  of  America,  and  his  bust  has 
a  place  in  the  decoration  of  school  houses  and 
other  public  buildings  generally  throughout  the 
land. 

Towns  and  counties  innumerable  have  been 
named  after  Franklin  (there  are  said  to  be 
twenty  places  in  Ohio  alone  named  Franklin) 
and  every  year  in  every  important  American 
city  his  birthday  is  celebrated  by  meetings  and 
banquets  of  members  of  societies  of  advertising 
men,  publishers,  and  printers.  Printers  claim 
him  as  their  own  by  the  statement  that  he  is 
their  "patron  saint."  His  fine  statue  in  Wash- 
ington bears  the  legend: 

BEN      FRANKLIN 
PRINTER 


Franklin's  Pennsylvania  Activities 


IN  1737,  Colonel  Spotswood,  former  gover- 
nor of  Virginia,  and  then  postmaster-gen- 
eral, being  dissatisfied  with  the  conduct  of 
his  deputy  at  Philadelphia,  respecting  neg- 
ligence and  inexactitude  of  accounts,  took  from 
him  the  commission  and  offered  it  to  Franklin. 
The  latter  accepted  it  readily,  and  found  it  of 
considerable  advantage;  for  although  the  sal- 
ary was  small,  it  facilitated  the  correspondence 
that  improved  his  newspaper,  increased  its  cir- 
culation and  boomed  his  advertising  patronage, 
so  that  it  came  to  afford  him  considerable  in- 
come.   His  former  competitor's  newspaper  de- 
clined   proportionately.       In    this    connection 
Franklin  says: 

I  mention  these  things  as  a  lesson  to  those 
young  men  who  may  be  employed  in  managing 
affairs  for  others,  that  they  should  always  ren- 
der accounts,  and  make  remittances,  with  great 
clearness  and  punctuality. 

Franklin  was  instrumental  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  large  hall  for  the  use  of  any  preacher 

157 


158  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

of  any  religious  persuasion  who  might  desire  to 
say  something  to  the  people  of  Philadelphia;  "so 
that  even  if  the  Mufti  of  Constantinople  were  to 
send  a  missionary  to  preach  Mohammedanism 
he  would  find  a  pulpit  at  his  service." 

When  Whitefield  the  preacher  arrived  at 
Boston  from  England,  he  wrote  Franklin,  asking 
possibilities  as  to  lodging,  Franklin  replied: 
"You  know  my  house;  if  you  can  make  shift 
with  its  scanty  accommodations,  you  will  be  most 
heartily  welcome."  Whitefield  replied  that  if 
Franklin  made  that  kind  offer  for  Christ's  sake, 
he  should  not  miss  of  a  reward.  Franklin  replied: 
"Don't  let  me  be  mistaken;  it  was  not  for 
Christ's  sake,  but  for  your  sake."  Whitefield 
accepted. 

In  1736  he  was  elected  clerk  of  the  Assembly 
and  held  the  clerkship  for  fifteen  years.  In  1747 
he  organized  the  militia  under  the  name  of 
"associators;"  no  easy  matter  in  Quaker  Penn- 
sylvania. When  the  Quaker  Assembly  of  Penn- 
sylvania was  urged  by  Governor  Thomas  to 
buy  powder  the  men  of  peace  declined,  because 
powder  was  an  ingredient  for  warfare,  but 
Franklin  suggested  that  three  thousand  pounds 
be  appropriated  for  the  "purchase  of  bread, 
flour,  wheat,  or  other  grain."  The  "other  grain" 
in  this  case  was  gunpowder. 

In  1752  Franklin  was  elected  a  member  of  the 


FRANKLIN  S    LOCAL   ACTIVITIES  159 

Assembly.  He  was  also  made  a  justice  of  the 
peace  and  a  member  of  the  city  councils.  During 
the  war  between  the  English  and  French,  each 
upholding  their  claims  to  American  soil,  Frank- 
lin was  sent  to  Braddock's  headquarters-  in  Vir- 
ginia to  see  how  Braddock  could  be  aided.  Here 
it  was  that  he  first  met  George  Washington. 
Franklin  was  commissioned  to  buy  horses  and 
wagons.  He  readily  gave  his  guarantee  and  this 
almost  ruined  him,  as  the  government  was  ex- 
ceedingly slow  refunding  his  advances. 

While  Washington  could  swear  on  occasion 
"like  an  angel  of  God,"  there  are  no  swearing 
stories  recorded  of  Franklin.  The  spirit  of  ease 
and  contentment  had  been  a  family  trait  for 
many  generations.  Nevertheless,  some  of  his 
early  humorous  writings  border  on  coarseness, 
quite  in  harmony  with  the  English  writers  of 
Franklin's  time. 

When  Braddock  was  defeated  in  1755  the 
"associators"  were  called  upon  to  go  to  the 
rescue  and  elected  Franklin  colonel  of  their  reg- 
iment. So  it  happened  that  the  philosopher  who 
had  never  used  a  gun,  became  a  war  leader. 
He  built  a  line  of  forts  in  the  Lehigh  Valley  and 
checked  the  Indian  warriors.  His  love  of  humor 
is  exemplified  in  his  suggestion  to  the  chaplain 
that  if  he  would  accept  the  position  of  "steward 
of  the  rum,"  and  make  a  point  of  distributing  it 


l6o  BIOGRAPHY   OF   FRANKLIN 

immediately  after  morning  prayers  he  would 
have  the  soldiers  all  about  him.  "Never  were 
prayers  more  punctually  attended,"  he  naively 
observes.  . 

Franklin  urged  the  formation  of  a  local  mili- 
tary company  for  the  protection  of  Philadelphia. 
They  bought  some  old  cannon  from  Boston,  se- 
cured more  from  England,  and  Franklin  went 
to  New  York  to  borrow  cannon  from  Governor 
Clinton.  Clinton  refused,  but  he  softened  under 
madeira  to  the  loan  of  six  cannons.  After  a  few 
more  bumpers,  he  advanced  to  ten;  and  at 
length  he  good-naturedly  conceded  eighteen. 
The  associators  kept  nightly  guard  while  the 
war  lasted,  and  Franklin  took  his  turn  of  duty 
as  a  common  soldier. 

Franklin  said  that  it  was  his  rule  "never  to 
ask,  never  refuse,  or  never  resign  an  office." 
This  was  after  he  had  resigned  from  the  office  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace. 

While  it  may  be  true  in  the  main  that  Franklin 
never  asked  for  an  office,  he  was  not  at  all  slow 
in  seeking  public  office  for  his  relations,  about  a 
dozen  of  whom  were  given  positions  of  public 
trust  through  his  influence.  This  was  the  custom 
of  the  times  and  no  one  really  objected  in  his  day 
to  such  nepotism. 

Other  offices  held  by  Franklin  were: 


OFFICES    HELD    BY    FRANKLIN  l6l 

Clerk  Pennsylvania  Assembly. 

Member  Philadelphia  Council  and  Alderman. 

Postmaster  of  Philadelphia. 

Deputy  Postmaster  General  for  the  Colonies. 

Postmaster  General  for  the  Colonies. 

Delegate  to  Albany  convention   to  consider  plans 

for  a  union  of  the  Colonies. 
Colonel,  Pennsylvania  Militia. 
Acting  General,  Pennsylvania  Militia. 
President  Pennsylvania  Commission  of  Safety. 
Commissioner  to  Continental  Army  at  Cambridge. 
Commissioner  to  Canada. 
Agent  in  England  for  the  Colonies  (16  years.) 
Member  Secret  Committee  of  Correspondence. 
Member  to  draft  Declaration  of  Independence. 
Member  Continental  Congress. 
President  Pennsylvania  Constitutional  Convention. 
United  States  Commissioner  to  France. 
United  States  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  France. 
United    States    Commissioner    to    Negotiate   Peace 

with  Great  Britain. 
President  (Governor)  of  Pennsylvania. 

Equally  important  with  the  holding  of  public 
office  was  Franklin's  service  of  an  unofficial 
kind.  The  more  important  of  these  achievements 
were  as  follows: 

Founded  the  American  Philosophical  Society 

(First  President). 
Founded  the  Philadelphia  Library,  upon  which 

is  based  all  public  library  systems. 
Founded  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
Founded  the  Philadelphia  Fire  Company. 
Helped  to  found  the  Philadelphia  Hospital. 


1 62  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

In  1753  Franklin  received  the  honorary  de- 
gree of  Master  of  Arts  from  Harvard  and  Yale. 

Franklin  entered  heartily  into  the  project  of 
establishing  a  hospital  for  the  colony  in  Phila- 
delphia and  inserted  in  his  newspaper,  a  series 
of  essays,  "on  the  great  duty  of  charity  to  the 
sick  and  miserable,"  which  made  such  an  im- 
pression on  the  public  mind,  that  $12,000.00 
was  quickly  subscribed.  On  the  foundation 
stone  is  to  be  seen  the  following  inscription  by 
Franklin: 


IN  THE  YEAR  OF  CHRIST  MDCCLV 

GEORGE   THE    SECOND,  HAPPILY  REIGNING 

(FOR    HE    SOUGHT    THE    HAPPINESS    OF    HIS     PEOPLE) 

PHILADELPHIA    FLOURISHING 
(FOR    ITS    INHABITANTS    WERE  PUBLIC  SPIRITED) 

THIS   BUILDING 

BY   THE    BOUNTY    OF   THE    GOVERNMENT 
AND   OF   MANY    PRIVATE    PERSONS 

WAS    PIOUSLY    FOUNDED 
FOR   THE    RELIEF   OF   THE    SICK   AND   MISERABLE 


MAY   THE    GOD    OF   MERCIES    BLESS 
THE    UNDERTAKING 


Scientific  and   Mechanical 
Experiments 


^RANKLIN  could  make  an  experiment 
with  less  apparatus  and  conduct  his  ex- 

*  perimental  inquiries  to  a  discovery  with 
more  ordinary  materials  than  any  other 
philosopher1.  To  a  common  kite,  made  of  silk, 
rather  than  paper,  because  of  the  rain,  he  fixed 
a  slender  iron  point.  Then  with  an  old  key,  a 
silk  thread,  and  some  sealing  wax  he  discovered 
the  identity  of  lightning  and  electricity.  He 
clapped  his  knuckles  to  the  key,  and  felt  a  smart 
shock!  He  charged  a  bottle  with  this  strange 
visitor,  and  exploded  gunpowder,  set  spirits  of 
wine  on  fire,  and  verified  the  oneness  of  elec- 
trical fluid  and  lightning. 

The  experiments  with  electricity  and  the  let- 
ters to  Collinson  of  London  describing  them, 
brought  Franklin  into  some  prominence,  and 
about  this  time  we  find  him  writing  the  first 
lengthy  intelligent  explanation  of  the  Leyden 
jar,  his  explanation  of  thunder  and  lightning  as 

163 


164  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

phenomena  of  electricity.  In  July,  1750,  Frank- 
lin sent  to  London  a  paper  announcing  the  in- 
vention of  the  lightning  rod,  together  with  an 
explanation  of  its  action. 

Franklin's  suggestions  as  to  "drawing  the 
lightning  from  the  clouds"  were  carried  out  in 
France  and  England  and  thus  the  Philadelphia 
printer,  philosopher,  postmaster,  and  author  of 
"Poor  Richard"  became  famous. 

Franklin  founded  a  public  library,  whereby, 
at  a  small  expense,  a  subscriber  might  have  his 
choice  of  books,  on  all  subjects  whether  of  pleas- 
ure or  profit.  This  library,  which  was.commenced 
in  1731,  by  Franklin,  with  only  thirty-seven 
members,  and  one  hundred  volumes,  became  in 
1820,  enlarged  to  six  hundred  members,  and  up- 
wards of  twenty  thousand  volumes.  It  is  today 
well-nigh  the  largest  library  on  this  continent. 

He  invented  the  Franklin  stove,  and  in  1745 
he  published  a  complete  description  of  it,  one  of 
the  most  interesting  essays  ever  written  on  a  dry 
and  uninteresting  subject. 

Franklin  refused  to  take  out  a  patent  for  any 
of  his  inventions;  for  he  was  on  principle  opposed 
to  patents,  and  said  that  as  we  enjoyed  great 
advantages  from  the  inventions  of  others  we 
should  be  willing  to  serve  them  by  inventions  of 
our  own,  freely  and  generously.  A  London  iron- 
monger made  a  few  changes  in  the  Pennsylvania 


HIS    SCIENTIFIC   ACTIVITIES  165 

Fireplace  and  sold  it  as  his  own,  gaining  a 
fortune. 

When  Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  after  the 
Revolution,  he  is  said  to  have  declined  to  re- 
ceive any  salary  for  his  three  years'  service,  ac- 
cepting only  his  expenses  for  postage,  which  was 
high  in  those  times,  and  amounted  in  this  case 
to  seventy-seven  pounds.  This  is  not  literally 
true;  he  did  not  decline  to  receive  his  salary,  but 
he  spent  it  in  charity,  and  made  bequests  of  it 
in  his  will. 

Franklin  also  introduced  the  basket  willow 
and  broom  corn;  street  paving,  cleaning,  and 
lighting;  reformed  the  night  watch  of  his 
adopted  city;  promoted  the  use  of  plaster  and 
mineral  fertilizers;  urged  the  culture  of  grapes 
and  silk;  advocated  the  building  of  ships  with 
water  tight  compartments;  and  lent  a  hand — 
literally — in  all  kinds  of  progressive  work. 

Franklin  studied  the  effect  of  oil  in  stilling 
troubled  waters;  he  wrote  on  light,  heat,  the  vis 
inertiae  of  matter,  magnetism,  rainfall,  evapo- 
ration and  the  aurora  borealis.  No  subject  was 
too  great  or  too  insignificant  for  his  pen;  he  re- 
vised the  English  Prayer  Book,  continually 
quoted  scripture,  was  an  avowed  freethinker, 
vegetarian,  church-goer  and  meat  eater  by 
turns;  he  wrote  on  astronomy  and  colds,  sex 
problems  and  clean  streets,  atheism  and  deism, 


1 66  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

paper  money  and  printers'  credits,  mutual  in- 
surance and  night  watchmen,  multiplying  the 
human  race  and  replenishing  the  earth,  the 
effects  of  luxury  and  idleness,  industry,  slavery, 
peace,  war,  health,  sickness,  thrift,  love,  busi- 
ness, agriculture,  independence;  ever  ready  with 
caution  and  advice  on  marriage,  travel,  friend- 
ship, trade,  and  other  problems  put  up  to  him 
for  solution. 

Franklin  had  somewhat  of  a  love  for  music 
and  could  play  the  violin,  the  harp  and  the  gui- 
tar. He  constructed  a  musical  machine  with  re- 
volving glasses  operated  with  the  foot;  the 
glasses  when  touched  with  wet  fingers  emitting 
tones  "incomparably  sweet." 

Franklin  has  been  considered  quite  an  author- 
ity on  the  peopling  of  the  earth,  national  wealth, 
the  price  of  corn,  free  trade,  slavery  and  the 
slave  trade,  on  the  art  of  peace  and  the  shame 
and  disgrace  of  war.  He  preceded  Sherman  in 
the  idea  that  war  is  hell.  "You  blundering 
blockhead,"  he  puts  into  the  mouth  of  a  visit- 
ing angel  from  heaven  to  earth  to  its  guide: 
"You  undertook  to  conduct  me  to  earth,  but 
these  mangled  bodies  on  this  battlefield  show 
that  you  have  brought  me  into  hell  itself."  He 
brought  about  the  organization  of  the  parent 
volunteer  fire  department,  and  originated  in 
1743  what  became  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  which  still  exists. 


HIS    SCIENTIFIC    ACTIVITIES  167 

Other  of  his  inventions  were:  a  chair  which 
when  turned  inside  out  became  a  step-ladder:  bi- 
focal lenses,  now  becoming  exceedingly  common, 
besides  many  improvements  in  printing,  boat- 
ing and  other  activities. 

Nothing  seemed  to  be  too  small  or  too  great 
for  Franklin.  He  invented  an  apparatus  for  tak- 
ing books  from  high  shelves.  He  suggested  that 
sailors  could  mitigate  thirst  by  sitting  in  the 
salt  water  or  soaking  their  clothes  in  it.  He  said 
that  the  pores  of  the  skin,  while  large  enough  to 
admit  the  water,  are  too  small  to  allow  the  salt 
to  penetrate;  and  the  experiment  was  success- 
fully tried  by  shipwrecked  crews. 

He  maintained  that  bread  and  flour  could  be 
preserved  for  years  in  air-tight  bottles;  this  was 
proved  successful  by  Captain  Cook  in  his  famous 
voyage. 


The  Later  Life  of  Franklin 

AN    EARLY    RETIREMENT 


^RANKLIN  retired  from  printing  activ- 
ities at  the  early  age  of  forty-two,  and 
became  more  or  less  of  a  silent  partner 
in  the  firm  of  Franklin  and  Hall  and 
other  concerns.  Hitherto  he  had  been  a  hard, 
diligent  worker;  his  pleasures  had  been  books, 
the  Junto,  the  theater,  and  some  love  affairs. 

In  1740  Franklin's  business  was  continually 
augmenting,  and  his  circumstances  growing 
daily  easier,  his  newspaper  having  become  prof- 
itable, as  being  for  a  time  almost  the  only  one  in 
the  neighboring  provinces.  "I  experienced  too," 
he  says,  "the  truth  of  the  observation  that  after 
getting  the  first  hundred  pounds,  it  is  more  easy 
to  get  the  second;  money  itself  being  of  a  pro- 
lific nature." 

At  the  time  Franklin  established  himself  in 
Pennsylvania,  there  was  not  a  good  bookshop 
south  of  Boston.  In  New  York  and  Philadelphia 
the  printers  carried  stationery,  ballads,  alman- 
acs, and  a  few  school  books.  Book  readers  were 

1 68 


AN    EARLY   RETIREMENT  169 

compelled  to  send  to  England  for  literature. 
Franklin  imported  books  and  hazarded  their 
profitable  sale. 

Franklin  carefully  excluded,  in  conducting 
his  newspapers,  all  libelling  and  personal  abuse, 
which  had  become  somewhat  disgraceful  even 
for  those  days.  Whenever  writers  pleaded  the 
liberty  of  the  press — that  a  newspaper  was  like 
a  stagecoach,  in  which  anyone  who  would  pay 
had  a  right  to  a  place — he  would  offer  to  print 
copies  separately  if  desired,  maintaining  that  he 
had  contracted  with  his  subscribers  to  furnish 
them  with  useful  or  entertaining  matter,  hence 
he  could  not  fill  their  papers  with  private  alter- 
cation. On  this  subject,  he  writes: 

Many  of  our  printers  make  no  scruple  of  grat- 
ifying the  malice  of  individuals  by  false  accusa- 
tions of  the  fairest  characters  among  ourselves, 
augmenting  animosity  even  to  the  producing  of 
duels;  and  are,  moreover,  so  indiscreet  as  to 
print  scurrilous  reflections  on  the  government  of 
neighboring  states,  and  even  on  the  conduct  of 
our  best  national  allies,  which  may  be  attended 
with  the  most  pernicious  consequences.  These 
things  I  mention  as  a  caution  to  young  printers, 
and  that  they  may  be  encouraged  not  to  pollute 
their  presses  and  disgrace  their  profession  by 
such  infamous  practices. 

How  much  money  Franklin  actually  made  in 
his  business  is  difficult  to  determine,  although 


I7O  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

many  guesses  have  been  made.  He  was  more 
largely  and  widely  engaged  than  any  other 
printer  in  the  colonies,  for  nearly  all  the  im- 
portant printing  of  the  middle  Colonies  and  a 
large  part  of  that  of  the  southern  Colonies  came 
to  his  office  in  Philadelphia.  He  made  enough 
to  retire  after  working  for  himself  only  about 
twenty  years. 

On  retiring  he  turned  over  his  printing  and 
publishing  interest  to  his  foreman,  David  Hall, 
who  was  to  carry  on  the  business  in  his  own  way 
under  the  firm  name  of  Franklin  and  Hall,  and 
to  pay  Franklin  a  thousand  pounds  a  year 
($4,800.00)  for  eighteen  years,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  Hall  was  to  become  sole  proprietor. 
It  is  probable  that  this  thousand  pounds  which 
Franklin  was  to  receive  is  an  indication  that  the 
business  had  been  yielding  him  more  than  that 
sum,  possibly,  almost  two  thousand  pounds 
($10,000.00)  a  year.  However  this  is  very  un- 
certain. It  will  be  remembered  that  Parker 
valued  this  plant  at  less  than  one-third  the  sum 
Hall  paid  per  annum  for  eighteen  years;  hence 
the  goodwill  as  appraised  by  Hall  must  have 
been  held  at  an  enormously  high  value;  for  these 
eighteen  years  at  least  the  business  was  generally 
known  as  Franklin's,  although  conducted  by 
Hall.  After  Franklin  retired  in  1748  he  never 
again  engaged  himself  in  gainful  trade,  except 
that  he  was  ever  ready  to  turn  an  honest  penny. 


AN    EARLY   RETIREMENT  IJI 

On  one  occasion  he  wrote  his  "dear  child 
Debby,"  that  as  the  income  from  Hall  had 
ceased,  they  must  needs  be  somewhat  more 
economical.  To  a  young  lady  about  to  be 
married  he  wrote: 

Frugality  is  an  enriching  virtue — a  virtue 
I  never  could  acquire  in  myself;  but  I  was  once 
lucky  enough  to  find  it  in  a  wife,  who  thereby 
became  a  fortune  to  me. 

Until  he  went  abroad  he  wore  clothes  of  his 
own  wife's  making  and  was  extremely  frugal  in 
all  his  habits. 

While  Franklin  had,  on  the  whole,  abundant 
reason  to  be  satisfied  with  being  established  in 
Pennsylvania,  there  were  two  things  that  he 
regretted,  there  being  no  provision  for  defense, 
nor  for  a  complete  education  of  youth;  neither 
militia,  nor  college.  In  1743,  he  drew  up  a  pro- 
posal for  establishing  an  academy;  and  the  next 
year  he  succeeded  in  proposing  and  establishing 
the  Philosophical  Society,  which  has  since 
become  and  now  is  a  national  institution. 

After  his  withdrawal  from  business  Franklin 
remained  postmaster  of  Philadelphia,  and  in 
1753,  after  he  had  held  that  office  for  sixteen 
years,  he  was  appointed  Postmaster-general  of 
all  the  Colonies.  This  position  he  retained  until 
dismissed  from  it  by  the  British  government  in 
1774,  on  the  eve  of  the  Revolution.  This  was  a 


172  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

sad  blow  to  Franklin's  pride  as  may  be  seen  in 
his  letter  to  his  wife  and  daughter.  There  was 
some  salary  attached  to  these  offices,  that  of 
Postmaster-general  yielding  three  hundred 
pounds.  The  postmastership  of  Philadelphia  en- 
tailed no  difficult  duties,  and  his  wife  assisted 
him;  but  when  he  was  made  Postmaster-gen- 
eral he  made  extensive  journeys  through  the 
Colonies,  reformed  the  postal  system,  and  well 
earned  every  penny  of  his  salary — long  delayed 
in  payment.  This  salary  was  allowed  only  as  the 
office  produced  it;  it  was  withheld  four  years. 
Franklin  had  installed  faster  post-riders,  in- 
creased the  transportation  of  mail  between 
important  places,  made  a  charge  for  carrying  all 
newspapers,  regardless  of  who  published  them — 
hitherto  carried  free  when  published  by  post- 
masters— and  insisted  that  all  newspapers 
should  be  carried  on  the  same  terms,  his  own  and 
his  competitor's  included.  He  also  reduced  some 
of  the  postage  rates. 


BON    HOMME    RICHARD 

THE    FRENCH   CALLED   FRANKLIN   THE   GOOD  MAN    RICHARD   IN    HONORING 
THE    AUTHOR   OF    POOR    RICHARD'S    ALMANAC 


Dodsons  Engraving  of  the  Longacre-Duane  Painting,  dr. 


Franklin  Becomes  a  Diplomat 


^RANKLIN'S  diplomatic  career  did  not 
really  begin  until  about  1756-7,  when  he 
was  over  50  years  of  age.  A  royalist,  he 
looked  upon  the  King  of  Great  Britain 
as  the  supreme  ruler  of  all  the  British  Colonies, 
hoping  even  against  hope  for  a  friendly  settle- 
ment of  all  the  difficulties  existing  and  growing 
between  the  mother  country  and  his  native  land. 
Not  until  actual  blood  was  shed  at  Lexington 
did  Franklin  weaken  in  his  allegiance.  As  late 
as  1758  he  wrote:  "A  firm  loyalty  to  the  Crown, 
and  a  faithful  adherence  to  the  government  of 
this  (British)  nation,  which  it  is  the  safety  as 
well  as  honor  of  the  Colonies  to  be  connected 
with,  will  be  the  wisest  course  for  us  to  take." 
In  1757  Franklin  became  a  Minister  to  Eng- 
land, where  only  comparatively  a  few  years  be- 
fore he  had  worked  as  a  journeyman  printer.  He 
left  London  with  Mr.  Denham,  a  poor,  obscure 
boy;  he  returned  as  a  man  of  science  and  dis- 
tinction, retired  from  manual  labor  and  business 

173 


174  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

on  a  fair  income,  and  in  the  service  of  his  country. 

In  1764  began  the  agitation  for  the  Stamp 
Act;  he  opposed  it  vigorously,  but  when  it  was 
passed  he  quit  his  opposition  and  sent  stamps 
to  his  Philadelphia  store  for  sale.  He  recom- 
mended Hughes  as  agent;  Hughes'  house  was 
mobbed.  Franklin  still  wrote  that  they  must 
have  "a  firm  loyalty  to  the  Crown  and  a  faithful 
adherence  to  the  government."  The  mob 
threatened  his  wife  but  she  refused  to  flee  to 
safety.  Eventually  the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed 
through  the  efforts  of  London  merchants  who 
wanted  American  business.  Franklin  assisted 
materially,  was  publicly  thanked  and  re-appoint- 
ed by  Pennsylvania  as  London  agent.  Georgia, 
New  Jersey  and  Massachusetts  followed,  and 
soon  'Franklin  was  a  kind  of  Colonial  ambass- 
ador. He  wrote  articles  and  pamphlets  to  place 
the  cause  of  the  Colonies  before  the  English. 
He  associated  with  friendly  leaders;  but  could 
not  prevent  troops  being  quartered  on  Boston. 

Franklin  returned  from  England  in  1775,  and 
was  made  deputy  in  the  Continental  Congress. 
He  was  made  postmaster-general  of  the  Colo- 
nies, laid  lines  of  postal  communication  from 
Maine  to  Georgia,  and  became  earnest  for  the 
war.  "B  free  Franklin"  was  his  humorous  way 
of  franking  his  mail,  instead  of  "Free.  B. 
Franklin."  He  gradually  absorbed  the  spirit  of 
independence  and  joined  hands  in  throwing  off 
the  British  yoke. 


Franklin's  Mission  to  France 


IN  1776  Franklin  was  given  a  commission 
to  represent  the  United  Colonies — now  be- 
ing newly-born  as  the  United  States  of 
America — in  France.  He  said:  "I  am  old 
and  good  for  nothing;  but  as  the  storekeepers 
say  of  their  remnant  of  cloth,  I  am  but  a  fag  end, 
you  may  have  me  for  what  you  please."    The 
"fag  end"  of  his  life  extended  to  fourteen  years 
of  strenuous  labor  for  liberty,  and  to  make  the 
United  States  of  America  safe  for  democracy. 

Franklin  discovered  the  heart  of  France.  His 
reception  was  most  enthusiastic;  his  name  was 
already  a  household  word  there;  his  discovery 
of  the  nature  of  lightning  appealed  strongly  to 
the  French  imagination;  Poor  Richard,  long 
since  translated  into  several  European  lan- 
guages, had  visited  well-nigh  every  home  in 
France;  his  shrewd  thriftiness  and  homely  wis- 
dom had  been  the  delight  of  the  gay  home-lov- 
ing French.  They  almost  worshipped  its  author 
as  the  very  personification  of  the  Liberty  they 
were  already  beginning  to  yearn  for,  for  the 

175 


176  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

French  Revolution — with  its  Liberty,  Frater- 
nity, Equality — was  even  then  being  conceived 
in  the  womb  of  Time. 

Within  a  year  Franklin  and  Beaumarchais 
caused  to  be  sent  to  America  eight  vessels,  with 
supplies  worth  six  million  francs;  they  influenced 
the  French  to  be  eager  to  aid  the  American 
revolutionists. 

To  the  chagrin  of  Adams,  Lee  and  others,  the 
French  believed  that  Franklin  originated  the 
revolt,  that  he  was  the  Solon  who  could  lay 
down  laws  for  the  revolutionists,  and  that  he  was 
directing  their  movements.  From  the  highest  to 
the  lowest,  the  French  showered  honors  on  him 
as  the  good  wily  old  patriarch  in  his  marten  fur 
cap — see  frontispiece — appeared  among  them 
in  both  their  gay  and  solemn  festivities. 

In  the  babyhood  of  America's  diplomatic  ser- 
vice diverse  were  the  functions  of  this  ambassa- 
dor. Franklin  was  fiscal  agent,  merchant,  bank- 
er, consul,  judge  of  admiralty,  director  of  the 
American  navy,  negotiator  with  England  for 
exchange  of  prisoners,  for  parleys,  and  for  peace. 

Alone  and  unaided  Franklin  persuaded  the 
French  government  to  lend  millions  of  money 
and  then  to  lend  more  money  to  pay  interest 
on  that  already  advanced.  America  seemed  to 
regard  him  as  the  source  from  which  all  needed 
funds  were  to  come.  Congress  drew  on  him, 


FREE  SHIPS;  FREE  GOODS        177 

other  diplomats  drew  on  him,  he  paid  salaries, 
met  innumerable  expenses  for  fitting  out  and 
repairing  ships,  and  for  the  exchange  of  prison- 
ers. Invariably  he  met  all  calls  for  help,  whether 
from  Congress,  individual  states,  or  individuals. 

Commodore  Paul  Jones,  the  intrepid  Ameri- 
can, and  other  captains  of  our  navy  who  were 
cruising  against  British  commerce  in  European 
water  had  headquarters  in  France,  and  were 
under  the  direction  of  Franklin.  Within  three 
months  in  British  waters  they  took  thirty-seven 
prizes,  and  seventy-five  prize  ships  within  the 
year.  Franklin  acted  as  a  court  of  admiralty  re- 
garding prizes  and  cargoes,  settled  disputes  be- 
tween officers  and  men,  quieted  discontent  about 
pay  by  advancing  money,  decided  the  fate  of 
mutineers,  and  had  ships  refitted  and  repaired. 

Franklin  maintained  the  doctrine  of  "free 
ships,  free  goods;"  he  wrote:  "Whatever  may 
formerly  have  been  the  law  of  nations,  all  the 
neutral  powers  seem  disposed  to  enforce  the  rule 
that  free  ships  shall  make  free  goods,  except  in 
the  case  of  contraband.  Denmark,  Sweden,  and 
Holland  have  already  acceded  to  the  proposi- 
tion and  Portugal  is  expected  to  follow.  France 
and  Spain,  in  their  answers,  have  also  expressed 
their  approbation  of  it.  I  have,  therefore, 
instructed  our  privateers  to  bring  in  no  more 
neutral  ships,  as  such  prizes  occasion  much 
litigation,  and  create  ill  blood." 


178  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

In  carrying  on  the  negotiations,  Franklin 
insisted  on  most  of  the  terms  afterwards  agreed 
upon:  first,  complete  independence,  the  right  to 
fish  on  the  Newfoundland  Banks  and  a  settle- 
ment of  boundaries;  he  added  a  point  not  after- 
wards pressed — that  Canada  should  be  ceded. 
In  exchange  for  Canada  he  was  prepared  to 
allow  some  compensation  to  the  Tories  for  their 
loss  of  property.  The  question  of  Canada  was 
dropped  entirely  and  the  descendants  of  the 
Tories  of  1776  keep  up  their  bitter  toryism  to 
this  day. 

Franklin  eventually  left  France  in  great 
triumph,  but  worn  out  with  arduous  labor, 
much  bickering,  a  complication  of  physical 
troubles  and  much  pain.  The  king  honored  him 
greatly,  while  the  people  flocked  about  him  with 
joyfulness  and  admiration  in  his  journey  from 
Paris  to  the  sea.  In  England  he  was  honored 
beyond  expectation  and  eventually  landed  in 
Philadelphia  in  1786.  He  was  next  made  Presi- 
dent (Governor)  of  Pennsylvania. 

Franklin  laid  the  plan  of  representation  so 
that  in  the  lower  House  the  representation 
should  be  according  to  population,  in  the  Senate 
each  State  to  have  an  equal  vote,  money  bills 
to  originate  in  the  lower  House.  His  plan  was 
substantially  adopted  in  the  Constitution. 

Thus  the  great  question  of  democratic  gov- 


FRANKLIN  S    GREATEST    WORK.  179 

ernment  was  settled  by  one  of  those  strokes  of 
Franklin's  sublime  luck  or  genius.  He  disap- 
proved of  the  whole  idea  of  a  double-headed 
Congress;  his  masterful  intellect  worked  out  an 
arrangement  which  satisfied  everybody  and  is 
one  of  the  most  important  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  our  Constitution,  and  thus  established 
a  permanent  federal  union. 

This  was  Franklin's  greatest  iand  most  per- 
manent service  to  his  country,  more  valuable 
even  than  his  important  work  in  England  or 
France,  and  forms  a  fitting  close  to  a  long  life. 
The  most  active  period  of  his  life,  was  between 
his  seventieth  and  eighty-second  years.  Indeed 
it  would  be  difficult  to  find  any  other  instances 
in  history  where  men  have  done  their  best  work 
when  over  eighty  years  of  age. 

Benjamin  Franklin  died  April  17,  1790,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-four  years  and  three  months, 
at  his  home  in  Philadelphia,  surrounded  by  his 
family  and  friends.  Four  days  later  he  was 
buried  in  Christ  Church  burial  ground,  Phila- 
delphia. 

The  grave  in  Christ  Church  burial  ground  is 
unmarked  by  a  monument  of  any  kind.  Sim- 
plicity was  the  keynote  of  all  the  events  of  his 
long  and  useful  life,  and  simplicity  characterizes 
his  final  resting  place. 

Franklin  died  quite  well  off  for  those  times, 


l8o  BIOGRAPHY   OF    FRANKLIN 

leaving  an  estate  worth  over  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  His  personal  property  con- 
sisted mostly  of  bonds  and  money,  worth  about 
seventy  thousand  dollars. 

He  enjoyed  what  to  him  was  one  of  the  great- 
est pleasures  in  life,  children  and  grandchildren. 
He  had  six  grandchildren,  and  no  doubt  often 
wished  he  had  a  hundred.  He  had  no  patience 
with  celibacy,  and  was  constantly  urging  mar- 
riage on  his  younger  friends. 

Ben  Franklin  and  His  Epitaph 

Most  printers  are  familiar  with  the  epitaph 
written  by  Franklin  on  himself.  The  original  of 
the  corrected  copy  of  this  epitaph  is  in  the 
autograph  collection  of  the  Library  of  Congress 
at  Washington  and  is  herewith  reproduced. 

Franklin  wrote  it  in  1728,  when  he  was  22 
years  of  age,  at  which  time  Ben  was  industrious- 
ly engaged  in  similar  literary  recreations. 

Franklin  was  deeply  interested  in  his  trade, 
as  may  be  imagined  from  the  circumstances 
that  he  likened  himself  to  a  book.  The  epitaph 
always  has  been  regarded  as  particularly  grace- 
ful and  novel  in  its  conception.  Many  witty 
epitaphs  in  a  similar  vein  were  written  during 
Franklin's  time. 


A.  and  G.  Armbruester,  139 
Addison's  Spectator,   126 
American   Philosophical   Society, 

166,  171. 

American  Typefounders  Co.,   143 
"Associators,"  158,  159 

Bache,  Ben  Franklin,  143,  155 
Bache,  Richard,  casts  type,  143 
Baskerville,  typefounder,  143 
Basket,  King's  printer,  48 
Beer  guzzlers,  56 
Better  typesetter  printing,  brings 

reward,  88 

Biography  of  Franklin,  117 
Birth  of  Franklin,  123 
Bloody  Mary,  122 
"Blowing"  of  books,  154 
Boston  Gazette,  News-Letter,  126 
Braddock,  159 

Bradford,  "very  illiterate,"  23 
Brietnall,  Joseph,  83 
Bullen,  Mr.  H.  L.,  149 
Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  12, 

126 

Burnet,  Governor,  New  York,  33 
"Busy  Body,"  87 

Cash  dealings,  143 

Character  and  Credit,  86,  94 

Charleston  Gazette,  137 

Childs,  Francis,  140 

Clinton,  Governor,  160 

Coleman,  Wm.,  84,  90 

Collins  sets  out  for  Philadelphia, 

29;   drinker   and  gambler,  33; 

borrows    money,    34;    goes    to 

Barbadoes,  36 


Collinson  of  London,  163 
Copperplate  press,  Franklin's,"75 
Cornwallis  and  Yorktown,  135 
Cotton  and  Virgil,  14 
Craven  Street  Gazette,  149 
Crooked  Billet,  21 
Crusoe,  Robinson,  12 
Cry  for  paper  money,  92 

Dandy  Queer  Notions,  138 
Daniell,  William,  139 
Deborah  marries  Rogers,  66 
Deborah's  mother  and  her  oint- 
ment, 151 

Deist,  Ben  becomes  a,  78 
Denham,  merchant,  47;  exposes 
Keith,  49;  his  creditors,  63; 
engages  Franklin,  63;  store  on 
Water  Street,  67;  taken  ill  and 
dies,  67  £j 

De  St.  Paul's,  Logotypes,  154 
Details  of  Franklin's  partnerships, 

137 

Dogood  papers,  The,  127 
Dunlap,  W.,  at  Lancaster,  139 

Early  life,  Ben's,  121 
Ecton,  England,  121 
Errata,  36,  51,  55 
"Excuse  bad  spelling,"  147 

Father  Abraham,  105 
First  American  typefounder,  142 
First  girl  compositors,  138 
First  printing  order,  80 
Folger,  Peter,  123 
"Follow  Copy,"  153 
Franklin     and     Meredith,     136; 
Whitemarsh,  137 


182 


Franklin,  Ben,  Sr.  a  silk  dyer  and 
poet,  122 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  in  New  York, 
ii;  meets  Wm.  Bradford,  n; 
at  Amboy,  n,  13;  at  Burling- 
ton, 14, 15;  buys  bread  on  Mar- 
ket St.,  17;  first  sees  Miss  Read, 
17;  meets  Andrew  Bradford,  21; 
lodges  at  Read's,  24;  tries  to 
forget  Boston,  24;  returns  to 
Boston,  27;  offends  his  brother 
James,  28;  visits  his  brother 
John  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  30; 
meets  a  Quakeress,  31;  meets 
Collins  at  New  York,  32;  col- 
lects money  for  Vernon,  33; 
pitches  Collins  into  Delaware, 
35;  errata,  36;  makes  up  inven- 
tory of  plant  for  Keith,  37;  veg- 
etarian, 38;  finds  a  reason  for 
eating  fish,  38;  his  Socratic 
method  of  argument,  39;  animal 
food,  40;  observes  Lent,  40; 
courts  Deborah  Read,  41;  his 
acquaintances  in  Philadelphia, 
41;  often  visits  Gov.  Keith,  45; 
leaves  for  London,  46;  invited 
to  the  cabin  of  the  ship,  47;  dis- 
covers Keith's  perfidy,  48; 
lodges  in  Little  Britain,  50; 
works  for  Palmer,  51;  errata, 
51,  55;  "Religion  of  Nature," 
52;  suggests  circulating  library 
to  London  bookseller,  52;  the 
milliner,  55;  works  for  Watts, 
56;  pays  his  "footing,"  57;  the 
chapel  ghost,  57;  inspires  confi- 
dence by  quickness  and  close 
attention,  58;  cheaper  lodging, 
59;  keeps  good  hours  and  wins 
a  widow's  regard,  59;  returns  to 
Philadelphia,  61 ;  the  confession, 
61;  meets  Wygate,  62;  swims 
from  Chelsea  to  Blackfriars,  62; 


INDEX  183 

quits  printing  "forever,"  64; 
sails  from  Gravesend,  66;  lands 
at  Philadelphia,  66;  finds  De- 
borah married  to  Rogers,  66; 
again  works  for  Keimer,  68; 
meets  Meredith,  68;  casts  sorts 
for  Keimer's  plant,  72;  becomes 
engraver,  72,  74;  builds  copper- 
plate press,  75;  cuts  ornaments 
for  paper  money,  75;  prints 
paper  money  for  New  Jersey, 
75;  starts  in  business,  77;  code 
of  morals,  78;  first  printing 
order,  80;  the  croakers,  81;  the 
Junto,  83;  prints  Quaker  his- 
tory, 85;  works  hard  because 
price  is  low,  85;  his  industry 
noted,  86;  his  secrets  let  out, 
87;  reprints  an  address  to  the 
Governor  and  wins  favor,  89; 
in  financial  straits,  89;  finds 
financial  backers,  90;  is  relieved 
of  Meredith,  91;  accepts  aid 
from  Wm.  Coleman  and  Rob- 
ert Grace,  92;  prints  Newcastle 
paper  money,  94;  prints  laws 
and  votes,  94;  opens  stationer's 
shop,94;  pays  off  incumbrances, 
94;  trundles  wheelbarrow,  95; 
his  paper  barred  from  mails  by 
Bradford,  96;  bribes  post  riders, 
96;  seeks  dowry  with  Godfrey's 
niece,  97;  turns  his  thoughts  to 
marriage,  98;  takes  Deborah  to 
wife,  99;  they  thrive,  100; 
starts  library,  100;  his  grand- 
father, 122;  record  of  birth,  123; 
to  be  devoted  as  a  "tithe"  to 
the  church,  124;  his  nine  years' 
appren  ticeship,  125;  his 
"wretched"  poetry,  125;  cuts 
his  board  allowance  to  buy 
books,  126;  publishes  the  Cour- 
ant,  127;  arranges  with  Collins 


184  INDEX 


to  run  away  from  Boston,  128; 
in  New  York,  128;  his  various 
activities,  133,  134;  his  loyalty 
to  the  crown,  134;  his  partner- 
ships, 136;  visits  brother  James 
at  Newport,  138;  educates  his 
nephew,  138;  improves  his 
brother  James'  plant  at  New- 
port, 138;  picks  up  typefound- 
ing,  142;  casts  type  for  Keimer, 
142;  first  American  typefounder, 
142;  wills  type  and  material  to 
Bache,  143;  advises  cash  trading 
143;  casts  type  in  France, 
144;  on  credits,  142;  values  a 
printing  plant,  144;  improves 
presses,  144;  opinion  of  Boston 
newspapers,  147;  at  Montreal, 
149;  teaches  swimming,  149; 
his  department  store,  150;  on 
printers'  errors,  152;  invents 
logotypes,  153;  makes  printer  of 
his  grandson,  155;  his  statues, 
156;  on  punctuality  and  free 
speech,  157;  his  Pennsylvania 
activities,  157;  appointed  post- 
master of  Philadelphia,  157; 
elected  clerk  of  the  Assembly, 
158;  organizes  the  militia,  158; 
elected  to  the  Assembly,  158; 
meets  Washington,  159;  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  159;  elected  Col- 
onel, 159;  sent  to  relieve  Brad- 
dock,  159;  builds  forts,  159; 
buys  cannon  from  Boston,  New 
York  and  England,  160;  never 
refused  or  resigned  an  office, 
1 60;  his  public  achievements, 
161;  receives  degrees  from  Har- 
vard and  Yale,  162;  explodes 
gunpowder  electrically,  163;  his 
kite,  163;  invents  the  lightning 
rod,  164;  founds  Philadelphia 
public  library,  164;  refuses  to 
take  out  patents,  164;  oil  on 


angry  waters,  165;  his  later  life, 
1 68;  Minister  to  England,  173; 
to  France,  175;  his  death,  179; 
his  epitaph,  181. 

Franklin,  Grandma,  plays  trick 
on  prosecutor  Asquith,  122 

Franklin,  James,  returns  from 
England  and  opens  printing 
office  in  Boston,  125;  starts 
New  England  Courant,  126; 
in  difficulties,  127;  cancels 
Ben's  indentures,  127 

Franklin,  James,  Jr.,  138 

Franklin,  Josiah,  forms  small 
opinion  of  Keith,  29 

Franklin,  Josiah  and  Abiah,  father 
and  mother  of  Ben,  122 

Franklin,  Mrs.  Jas.,  Newport,  138 

Franklin,  Uncle  Ben,  122 

Franklin,  Wm.,  son  of  Ben,  de- 
serts the  Cause,  136 

Franklins,  The,  of  Chaucer,  121 

Freeport  Gazette,  139 

French,  Colonel,  visits  Franklin, 
25;  shows  Franklin  respect,  47 

"Friend  of  Man,"  135 

Girl  Compositors,  138 
Godfrey,  Thomas,  84, 97 
Godfreys   try   matchmaking,   97; 

leave  Franklin,  98 
Grace,  Robert,  84,  90 
Greek  type,  145 

Hadley,  Professor,  at  Ecton,  121 
Hall,  David,  131 
Hall  &  Miller,  139 
Hamilton,  Andrew,  47,  49 
Hamilton,  James,  47,  189 
Hang  together  or  separately,  135 
Harry,  David,  69,  95 
Holmes,  Robert,  at  New  Castle,  24 
Honest  John  Bunyan,  12 
Hospital   for   Pennsylvania,   162; 
inscription  by  Franklin,  162 


INDEX 


Inventory  of  plant,  130 
"Italicking  and  Capitalling,"  153 

James,  Thomas,  typefounder,  142 
Johnson's  logotypes,  153 
Jones,  Paul,  135 
Junto,  The,  83 

Keimer  a  "French  Prophet,"  23;  a 
seventh  day  sectarian,  39;  a 
glutton,  40;  eats  whole  pig,  40; 
purchases  services  of  Oxford 
scholar,  69;  calls  Franklin  down 
and  Franklin  quits,  72;  prints 
paper  money,  74;  goes  to  Bar- 
Dadoes,  95;  works  for  his  former 
apprentice,  Harry,  96 

Keith,  Governor,  2.5;  proposes 
setting  up  Franklin  in  business, 
26;  visits  Franklin,  26;  wants 
Franklin  to  go  to  London,  37; 
fails  to  furnish  letters  as  prom- 
ised, 46 

Kingston,  Jamaica,  139 

LaFayette,  135 
Ley  ton  Jar,  163 

Library  of  Franklin,  Massachu- 
setts, 148 

Logotype  printing,  153 
Lyons,  Dr.,  53 

Mandeville,  Dr.,  53 

Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety, 143 

Market  and  Fourth  Streets,  Phila- 
delphia 1723, i 8 

Mecom,  Benjamin,  at  Antigua, 
138;  at  Connecticut,  138 

Meredith's  father  encourages 
Franklin,  74;  fails  Franklin's 
need,  89 

Meredith,  Hugh,  63,  73,  75,  88 

Mickle,  the  croaker,  81 

Money  type,  144 


Mufti  of  Constantinople,  158 
Mutual  affection  revived  between 
Ben  and  Deborah,  99 

New  England  Courant,  126 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  53 
New  Haven,  138 

"Objectionable  copy,"  155 
Offices  held  by  Franklin,  161 
Order  for  type,  140 
Osborne,  Watson  and  Ralph,  41 
Oxford  scholar  sells  his  services,  71 

Page  of  Colonial  advertisements, 

IS* 

Palmer,  Samuel,  142 
Paper  money,  75,  93,  94 
Parker,  James,  130,  139 
Partnership  with  Meredith,  73 
Pamphlet  on  paper  currency,  93 
Pennsylvania  Fireplace,  164 
Poor  Richard,  105 
"Poor  Smith,"  138 
Price,  Dr.,  148 
Printers'  errors,  152 
Printers'  "Phat,"  154 
Printing  unprofitable,  type  wears 

out,  97 
Printing  office  at  Passy,  149 

Quaker  "associators,"  158, 159 
Quaker  Meeting  House,  19 
Quakers,  Printing  for,  85 

Ralph,  deserts  wife  and  child,  45; 
forgets  wife  when  in  London, 
51;  the  milliner,  54;  uses  Frank- 
lin's name,  54;  in  Franklin's 
debt,  65 

Read,  Miss,  17,  66,  99 

Reformed  spelling,  147 

Resolutions,  Ben's,  79 

Richardson  &  Pamela,  12 

Riggite,  sport,  joker,  58 

Rogers,  a  potter,  66,  99 


i86 


INDEX 


Satisfaction  with  Hall,  141 

Scientific  and  mechanical  experi- 
ments, 163 

Sense  preferable  to  sound,  148 

Sloane,  Sir  Hans,  53 

Smith,  William,  139 

South  Meeting  house,  Boston,  124 

Spotswood,  Col.,  157 

Statues  of  Franklin,  156 

Steward  of  the  Rum,  1 59 

Stickler  for  Correctness,  152 

Strahan,  Wm.,  138, 140, 145 

Students  meet  in  the  woods  near 
The  Schuylkill,  42 

Subscription  library,  100 

Takes  Deborah  to  wife,  99 
Terms  of  Parker  partnership,  139 
Thevenot's  swimming  motions,  63 
Three-cent  breakfast,  58 
Timothy,  Ben  Franklin,  137 
Timothy,  Louis,  Franklin's  Ger- 
man editor,  137 
Tryon,  38 

Typefounder,  Ben  as  a,  72,  142 
Type  from  France  to  Childs,  144 


Type  order  to  Caslon,  140 
Types    arrive    from    London    for 
Franklin  and  Meredith,  80 

United  States  Marines,  135 

Vernon,  30,  78,  89 
Virginia  seizes  Franklin's  plant, 
144 

Walter,  John,  of  the  London 
Times,  153 

Washington,  135,  159 

Washington's  and  Franklin's  an- 
cestors, 122 

"Water  American,"  56 

Watts,  printer,  London,.  56          . 

Way  to  Wealth,  103 

Webb,  George,  68,  70,  87 

Weekly  Mercury,  126 

Weekly  Post  Boy,  139 

Whitefield,  the  Preacher,  158 

Whitemarsh,  94,   137 

Wollaston's  "Religion  of  Nature," 

52 
Works  hard  at  low  prices,  85 

Wyndham,  Sir  Wm.,  65 


~*H[  Publishers 

The  thanks  of  the  publishers  are 
due  Mr.  C.  F.  Wadsworth,  editor 
of  the  Publishers  Auxiliary,  for  the 
idea  of  issuing  Ben  Franklin's 
Printing  Experiences  in  book  form; 
to  Mr.  Harry  Hillman,  editor  of  the 
Inland  Printer,  for  the  illustrations; 
Mr.  John  Clyde  Oswald  and  Mr. 
Henry  L.  Bullen  for  suggestions, 
and  to  Mr.  Geo.  E.  Wray,  for 
editing  the  copy,  furnishing  short 
biographical  sketches  of  Franklin's 
early  life,  of  many  of  his  activ- 
ities and  of  his  later  years. 

Especial  attention  is  called  to  the 
beautiful  cover  which  has  been 
designed  and  executed  by  David  J. 
Molloy  Co.,  2857  North  Western 
Ave.,  Chicago,  111.  Franklin  Print- 
ers desiring  special  cases  for  books 
can  obtain  valuable  help  from  this 
concern. 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17  •  Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000  757  542    6 


CUTHBERT'S 

BOOK  STORE 
451  Locust  Ase.      ; 
Long  Beach.  Cal.     '. 


ait 


ass 


